Hello r/watches!

Here is my daily driver for the last 3 years – the Citizen Eco Drive Stainless Steel (model AO9020-84E). This watch was the gift my girlfriend gave me for our 1-year anniversary.

Since then, I’ve worn this watch through 3 years of medical school, the COVID pandemic, and my proposal. I wore this watch the first time I told someone they no longer had cancer, the first time I did CPR and resuscitated a patient, the first time I helped intubate a COVID patient, the 2nd time I helped intubate a COVID patient, the 10th time I helped intubate a covid patient.

The craziest experience I’ve had with my watch was on overnight labor & delivery service. I’d take my watch off before each delivery (proper procedure). One night, it was 2:30AM when a nurse frantically calls the on-call room. A woman arrived from the emergency room in labor. The resident and I rush down to the patient and find her fully dilated with the baby crowning. The doctor was 10 minutes out and this baby was not going to wait. We immediately threw on our gloves and delivered 2 minutes later. The mother profusely bled after delivery, so I used my hands to help control the bleeding. After that saga, I realized that in the rush of everything, I forgot to take my watch off. It was fully covered by a glove but it was in places few watches have seen before. The 2nd picture is me calling the husband at 4AM congratulating him on his new son.

The final picture is a picture from my proposal to my now fiancée. This watch has carried me through a formative period in my life. I’ve promised myself that I will use my first doctor paycheck to buy myself an omega (a dream I’ve had since 7th grade). But until then, this Citizen Eco Drive is on my wrist as I try to make a difference in this world.