We went down to the A&E to talk to the family of one of the inpatients today. We were explaining the benefits and the risks of the surgery, of which the registrar thought was necessary to preserve the patient's life, when his wife started to well up in tears. Despite being a relatively straightforward surgery, the operation entailed several risks of complications, and that was enough to cause a concern.
i can admit that the tenderness of the entire situation got me a little emotional, but i managed to hold back my emotions pretty well. It reminded me of what father said some time back: Doctors have to be emotionally unattached. Not true, i believe. Emotionally strong, yes, but definitely not unattached to the point where you're numb to the core.
Perhaps that's the problem some doctors face - they've experienced death as common as rain, and then subsequently grow out of their emotions. Sometimes they care too much about diagnosing and treating the patient than caring about the patients themselves (i'm not saying this about the team i'm under though - they're one of the most caring group of doctors i've ever met).
More heart than brains (although that in itself is Scientifically incorrect).
No comments:
Post a Comment