Thursday, December 06, 2012

flesh & blood


the front cover of a recent copy of MMA News says it all....

i know there's a myth going around that doctors sometimes play god, making & taking life-changing decisions for their patients. as i ponder upon this, i realise it's often not of the doctors' own doing. they provide their patients with various treatment options & commonly, in a moment of duress & uncertainty about their own conditions, the patients ask their doctors to do what they think is best. when the outcome is not what they expected or desired, accusations that doctors are playing god abound.

doctors bleed & they hurt, too. 2 of my colleagues have been delibitated - one with parkinsonism & the other with a brain tumour.

the recent case of the health ministry DG who was found guilty in a syariah court is another case in point. doctors are not immune to the lure of the flesh, in as much as they are vulnerable to greed.

george bernard shaw drove the point home when he wrote:

Make it compulsory for a doctor using a brass plate to have inscribed on it; in addition to the letters indicating his qualifications, the words "Remember that I too am mortal."





2 comments:

The thumb in every pie said...

Guilty as charged. I keep forgetting that doctors are mortals too. Blame that on watching too much House and McDreamy. :D

doc said...

Andrea,

House & McDreamy are not in real hospitals; come to think of it, they are not even real people!!

yeah, too much fantasy TV!