A Conversation for The Forum

Doctors - Good People?

Post 1

Researcher 188007

This is partly with reference to the attack on Glasgow Airport, but it also stands as a question in its own right. I remember not liking Nick Hornby's 'How to Be Good' partly because it was based on the assumption that there was something inherently good about doctors. Is there?

My experience of doctors has been just as varied as my experience of people from any other line of work. Some genuinely care for you and it shines out of them, others are supercilious arrogant b******ds who don't seem to give a monkey's. So why should doctors necessarily be regarded as good people, that is, better than average at being caring, compassionate or wise?


Doctors - Good People?

Post 2

Hoovooloo


They shouldn't.

Let's face it - we like doctors. They make us well. They are holders of arcane knowledge. For that reason, as a society, we blind ourselves to the realities of what being a doctor can mean. Yes, for some people, it can mean the chance to save lives, heal people, make a difference. For some people, I have no doubt, it is an opportunity to wield and exploit power, and there is surely no greater power one can wield than the literal, personal, life or death of the person in front of you. Doctors have that power in a way almost nobody does any more in the civilised world. (Obviously in barbarian countries judges and politicians hold that power also.)

Also, rather more childishly, consider:

- it's well paid
- people call you "Doctor", even if you don't have a PhD
- sober women will take their clothes off if you just ask them to
- easy access to drugs AND the knowledge of which are the best ones.

It's only surprising that doctors aren't more distrusted, given the history of the profession and its most recently famous practitioner, Harold Shipman.

Prison Officer: Oy, Shipman - we're getting a curry delivered. Want one?
Shipman: No thanks. But I could murder a nan.

SoRB



Doctors - Good People?

Post 3

azahar

Good question, Jack.

Basically, doctors are people, so they have all the quirks and insecurities that the rest of us less educated types suffer from - the important thing being that they should be able to separate the personal from the professional.

I had the good fortune in my mid-to-late twenties to be educated by a wonderful GP in Toronto (quite well-renowned there for being an excellent diagnostician) who taught me 'how to be a patient'.

One of the first things he ever said to me is that many of his colleagues think they are God on the Throne and that no matter how much they intimidated me I should always stand up for myself if I didn't agree with what they were telling me. That I should always ask about anything I didn't feel I understood well and never take anything they said as the final word.

Of course, this advice turned me into the *patient from hell!* for many specialists, but more than once I've caught them out. When they were actually wrong! So I will always be grateful for Dr Paul's education.

A good doctor will never shirk from answering lots and lots of questions asked by their patients. A good doctor will always look you straight in the eye when they are telling you stuff that is maybe uncomfortable to hear. And most importantly, a good doctor will be able to admit that perhaps they are wrong, or at least will take your opinions seriously (after all, it's your body!), and maybe study things a bit further or in a different way.

The few supercilious arrogant b*****d doctors I've come across have tended to fold up and give in once I start interrogating them as to *why* they have said such-and-such.

But perhaps the most important thing to remember is that the patient has a vital role in what goes on. They are also responsible for their part in the doctor-patient relationship, to make their needs and fears and whatever known to the doctor and not just take any doctor's word if they don't agree with it.

Sorry, bit of a rant, but this is something I feel quite strongly about. Nog was all set to have an operation on his ear done last year after a specialist had a look at him (he's 80% deaf in one ear). It was booked and everything. But there was something about how this woman would never meet your eye when she talked to you that set my 'danger radar' going. So I asked a doctor friend of ours to set up an appointment with someone he knew for a second opinion. Second opinion (after some extra tests) showed that the op would have been completely useless.

So like I said, doctors are just people. They probably make better educated guesses about what is wrong with us, but nobody knows our bodies better than we do. Somewhere a middle ground needs to be acknowledged, I reckon. In order for doctors to do their jobs as well as I'm sure most of them would like to.

az




Doctors - Good People?

Post 4

Teasswill

Isn't it nurses who are more regarded as compassionate, caring folk rather than doctors? Doctors - wise, perhaps, as experts in their field.

I agree, doctors are a mix of personalities just like any sphere of work. The more specialist they are, the more focussed they tend to be on what they can do, without necessarily considering all the options for the patient.

We've heard the hippocratic oath mentioned in relation to the recent news story. As far as I'm concerned, this is related to patients in the doctor's care, rather than all humanity. Still, it's one thing to refuse to act against one's religious or moral stance (e.g. Catholic doctors & abortions), it's another to actively intend to harm people.


Doctors - Good People?

Post 5

azahar

<> Teasswill

The nurses I experienced when I was in hospital for a week - both before and after my op - a few years ago should have been wearing leather and weilding riding crops! A more unsympathetic bunch could not have been imagined.

It was the cleaning woman who found me quietly crying as I sat on the edge of my bed before my operation. I was just so farking scared! And she immediately gave me a hug and told me I should be breathing very deeply, and that nothing bad was going to happen and that she'd be there when I got back to the room in case I needed anything.

The cleaning woman!

Okay, the nurses did their job. They were very efficient. But they weren't particularly caring.

(I realise this is just 'one person's experience' so it isn't my intention to tar all nurses with the same brush, just to say this was my rather unhappy experience.)

az


Doctors - Good People?

Post 6

Alfredo

It's frightening if it would be true that some "doctors" are involved in terrorist attacks.

A madness that finally fades in time, like the German terrorists R.A.F.

Although much is related to the Middle East problems, these attacks have reached a surrealistic level.

It's almost a hype, inwhich martyrs become angry when they are not killed by police but just get a bullit in their legs (Amsterdam, 2 years ago).

Awakening in a hospital instead of heaven where seven virgins are waiting for you as a bonus.

Madness


Doctors - Good People?

Post 7

badger party tony party green party

Its been a long time since I read "how to be Good" but doesn't the doctor have an affair with another doctor she met at a seminar for doctors and she gets in to rows with her husband because he opens their house to mystic homless people? She isnt painted as a flawless person or particularly good all the time.



Love these SoRB,
- it's well paid
- people call you "Doctor", even if you don't have a PhD
- sober women will take their clothes off if you just ask them to
- easy access to drugs AND the knowledge of which are the best ones.

I have had a tough week at work but it cheered me up to think:
This is the best paid work I can get with my current qualifications and without moving home.
Peoaple call me Sir even though I cant afford a peerage.
Sober women take their clothes off if i lay it on thick enough about caring for the waifs and strays.
Easy access to drugs that have road tested by clients I work with.

smiley - rainbow





Doctors - Good People?

Post 8

Xanatic

There is a difference between being good and being pleasant. A person might like humanity and wish to do good things for it, but doesn´t really feel like sitting and holding someone´s hand.


Doctors - Good People?

Post 9

Hoovooloo


"The nurses I experienced [...] should have been wearing leather and weilding riding crops!"

smiley - bigeyes

Nurses...

Leather...

Riding crops...

I'm just popping to the loo for a couple of minutes...

smiley - drool

SoRB


Doctors - Good People?

Post 10

azahar

Fair enough point, Xanatic, but sometimes holding someone's hand can make the world of difference. Sometimes.


az


Doctors - Good People?

Post 11

azahar

*sigh*

Silly ol' SoRB.

smiley - biggrin


az


Doctors - Good People?

Post 12

Alfster

Nurses: Generally unshockable...smiley - biggrin


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