Medicine’s Roots are Inviolable

For many, Medicine is a calling. I knew I wanted to be a doctor when in my early teens. This was reinforced by the fact that my father was a doctor who, sometimes, discussed his pathology cases at home. The depth and breadth of what he knew was breathtaking and who would not want to be so immersed in and knowledgeable of one’s profession.

Caring for patients can be, simultaneously at times, the most exhilarating, invigorating, edifying, heart warming or heart wrenching experience. At times it can be positively spiritual. It is also, on occasion, maddeningly frustrating and, sadly, the frustrating aspect has been progressively less due to difficult patient interactions and more and more due to the environment in which medicine is practiced.

I have said, and still believe that a doctor should love his or her patients. They become a part of the family and, just as with any family, there will occasionally be that difficult uncle or cousin who drives you mad. Nevertheless, he or she is still your relative and you love them nonetheless.

Forty years since receiving my degree, I have learned and experienced much more than I would have ever imagined, and a significant part of it has not been directly related to the narrow practice of medicine.

I am currently somewhat pessimistic about Medicine’s trajectory. I can see no fruitful remedy unless it comes from doctors and not the bureaucrats, big pharma and/or the government who currently hold the reins. Nevertheless, our patients continue to need us, probably more than ever, and this should be our guiding light.