OWL Essay 2022 Winner –
Saumya Chanana

Give me a break and I’ll fix it.
A break in a bone, ignites her soul.
She uses all tools, her strength inferred,
Mental and physical finesse to preserve
Joints, bones of patients, their own worlds
Fractured, dislocated, and out of alignment.
Havoc wreaked, traumas peaked,
Or simply, slowly, worn down,
Degenerated by the pressures of time and life.
She is sure when she says
Give me a break and I’ll fix it.

Give her a break and she’ll fix it.
A break in the system
That seemed fixed and stuck in its way.
They told her be cautious, they told her it isn’t a good fit for you
They say it’s a boy’s club, not a place for people like you.
She knows she is strong, their concerns formed from wrongs.
Her efforts supported, facilitated by those
Who see through these wrongs,
The inequality in having much of us in the shadows,
Out of the picture for so long.
Champions of Change widening the lane,
Creating space for more names
Like hers.

Give them a break and they’ll fix it.
The systems a-changing, hold on
For newer paths, newer ways.
A different method than the old days,
Where a ‘new’ system embraces change,
Diversity not feared but embraced.
For isn’t that the aim of the game?
Our differences reflected, a mirror
Of patients; their faces, souls, and stories,
Albeit no different than those of us, scrubbed in.
A move away from the old structure
Towards one that won’t rupture, a new culture,
To fixing the fractures, traumas of tomorrow,
To a better future starting today.

Give us a break and we’ll fix it.
A system where she feels supported, belonging.
A place where she knows she is not alone,
Her strength grows in a team that shares the load.
The system learning, building, evolving,
To a place where others like her know
There is space for you, for you to be part of the team.
No fear in taking the new roads, following people
Like her. For she once took a lonely road,
Building new tracks, taking new trails.
Perhaps for her, the road was not as smooth
As hopefully it will be for someone new.

Give me a break and I’ll fix it.
My size 6 hands albeit smaller
To those who have walked these roads before.
No longer a stranger to this path,
Those before me went through this last
To make new structures, frameworks, and tasks
To today where I now find myself, at last.
Give me a break and I’ll fix it.
Perhaps one day, I’ll be placing plates and screws
Perhaps for patients who see the similarities
And a little bit of themselves in me.

Together building a community, a world
Where we are all continuing to learn,
Differences are what make us unique.
But this is for the best, blending our tweaks
Together, strengthening what is weak.
Listening, improving, acting on our critique.
For isn’t this the only way for us
To fix our breaks and reach our peak?

Give me a break and I’ll fix it
An aspiring orthopod, dreams of steel,
Draped in lead and ready to lead, but for now content
To be a junior on her dream team.

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Comments from the judges:

"I love the truth, the strength and the optimism all rolled into this creative piece. For me a clear winner."

"Beautifully creative and emphatic messaging. This poem takes you through a journey of AOA’s meandering path of realisation to embrace diversity, through the eyes of a junior aspiring orthopaedic surgeon."

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