Under Siege
Professionalism is dying. Okay not only is professionalism dying, but as a society we are killing it. The examples are infinite but two in particular stand out today.
First, today was a throw back to the first two basic science years of medical school, i.e. lectures from 0730 to 1630. Looking back it is hard to believe I tolerated that kind of daily schedule. Unfortunately it took me 1.5 years to realize that skipping lectures and studying at home for an equivalent amount of time was a drastically more efficient method of memorizing vast amounts of minutia. Anyway, one lecturer, an attending physician, took it upon himself to personal introduce himself. Trust me this RARELY happens. He approached me first. I stood up and shook his hand, quite surprised as I have NEVER had an attending introduce him/herself to a medical student. Even more surprising was that my colleagues made scant if any attempt to get out of their seats as the attending made his way around the auditorium. Absolutely amazing, no one taught these kids to stand out of respect. A tenet of professionalism is respect, which is obviously no longer taught. I bet they wouldn’t even stand if their grandmother walked in the room.
Secondly, TBS is launching some prime time drivel this upcoming season titled Hawthorne. Here is a snippet about the show, “When necessary, she takes on doctors and administrators who are overworked, distracted or just unable to see the human being behind the hospital chart. Whether showing humanity to a homeless woman, trying to talk a suicidal cancer patient off a ledge or exposing a doctor’s near-fatal error…” Holy shit, just what we need, a nurse in a white coat taking on the inhuman physicians. Hey TBS script writers you should spend a little time in an actually ED, because you might realize that EVERYBODY IS ON THE SAME FUCKING TEAM! Why not feature a character who typifies the best of the nursing profession instead of the worst? Oh also, how the is an oncologist also the chief of surgery for a major hospital? He better at least be a surgical oncologist.
I will continue calling the women ma’am and the men sir tomorrow regardless of what’s on their badge.
First, today was a throw back to the first two basic science years of medical school, i.e. lectures from 0730 to 1630. Looking back it is hard to believe I tolerated that kind of daily schedule. Unfortunately it took me 1.5 years to realize that skipping lectures and studying at home for an equivalent amount of time was a drastically more efficient method of memorizing vast amounts of minutia. Anyway, one lecturer, an attending physician, took it upon himself to personal introduce himself. Trust me this RARELY happens. He approached me first. I stood up and shook his hand, quite surprised as I have NEVER had an attending introduce him/herself to a medical student. Even more surprising was that my colleagues made scant if any attempt to get out of their seats as the attending made his way around the auditorium. Absolutely amazing, no one taught these kids to stand out of respect. A tenet of professionalism is respect, which is obviously no longer taught. I bet they wouldn’t even stand if their grandmother walked in the room.
Secondly, TBS is launching some prime time drivel this upcoming season titled Hawthorne. Here is a snippet about the show, “When necessary, she takes on doctors and administrators who are overworked, distracted or just unable to see the human being behind the hospital chart. Whether showing humanity to a homeless woman, trying to talk a suicidal cancer patient off a ledge or exposing a doctor’s near-fatal error…” Holy shit, just what we need, a nurse in a white coat taking on the inhuman physicians. Hey TBS script writers you should spend a little time in an actually ED, because you might realize that EVERYBODY IS ON THE SAME FUCKING TEAM! Why not feature a character who typifies the best of the nursing profession instead of the worst? Oh also, how the is an oncologist also the chief of surgery for a major hospital? He better at least be a surgical oncologist.
I will continue calling the women ma’am and the men sir tomorrow regardless of what’s on their badge.
posted by Theogenes at 9:27 PM
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