Five years ago, I took a career risk by leaving my job to work on a ship. My medical friends did their best to persuade me, saying that running away to sea would 1 my career. But after these years working as a junior doctor, I was willing to take the risk.
2 for adventure, I boarded a ship in Singapore with 2,000 passengers and crew. I had expected the conditions to be tough hut to my 3, the hospital was well equipped, with an X-ray machine and a blood analyzer.
That first voyage was a learning experience, a 4 schedule full of safety drills. There was so much new information to 5. Even remembering which uniform to wear each day was a 6. Worse still, I often forgot to 7 my clock when the ship crossed time zones.
As a doctor, I was 8 for the 600 crew and I was on call for the entire ship. Far from 9 seasickness and sunburn, I had to 10 other diseases, for my patients were wide and varied. The ship's medical center was 11 a floating emergency room, and we didn't have a team of specialists on hand for a second opinion. With long and unpredictable working hours, it required mental 12.
As you can guess, many of the passengers were elderly. Heart attacks don't 13 geography and emergency evacuations (疏散) were difficult to 14. I recall one such patient, who was taken off the ship halfway through the Panama Canal. After a 15 ride in an old ambulance, I was relieved that the patient 16 long enough to arrive at the hospital in Panama City.
17, there were several unexpected benefits to the job. I regularly 18 the passenger facilities (设施) and I even hosted my own table of passengers in the evenings. On rare days off, I volunteered as a tour guide on trips ashore. I got to fly over Alaska in a seaplane and watched a ballet in St Petersburg.
Now, I understand being a ship doctor is not just a job — it's a way of 19. One year at sea became two. I lost my career ambitions, 20 I redefined happiness in my life.
