What is that!?

"What is that?" questioned the medical student as he and the two surgery residents and cardiothoracic fellow looked at the image.

"Guess," said Wayne,  now in his 5th month of a 2 year cardiothoracic fellowship at the University of Arizona.

"It looks like some kind of metal," replied Joe, (don't call him Joseph because he is Atheist -- that's what he'll tell you if you call him by his real name...), the medical student now in his 3rd rotation. He had initially wanted to go into surgery, as his dad was a surgeon, now retired after a 40-odd year career as an orthopedic surgeon. Joe outlined the white marker shaped object on the computer screen. It was about 4 inches if you eye balled it. One could barely make the ragged edges on one end facing down, and the smooth opposite end. It ended in sharp point.

"Think about it," said Qeesha, the black female resident (that's what people use to describe her when asked, although she hasn't realized it yet..  "Who is Dr. Jones?"  "Oh, she's the black surgery resident." "Oh, I know her."). "  "It's sitting across where the stomach usually sits, and it's making its way across midline, suggesting it's coursing through the pyloris." she explained.

The medical student stood there, silenced, perplexed, irritated. Were they going to give him all day to figure this out? A white object, metal colored, i.e. white on the xray, and in the stomach? Why couldn't they just tell him? Why this game of question and answer, test the medical student, see how stupid he is? Joe mumbled something under his breath.

"What did you say?" asked Wayne, who was already annoyed at the medical student and the resident.


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