the "perfect" physician

[neur0goddess]

It seems like the majority of posters on pre-allo agree that you shouldn't go into medicine unless you're completely altruistic- you love helping people and being nurturing/compassionate/emphatic 24/7. Realistically, is a sleep-deprived, stressed out, "miserable" resident even capable of exuding nothing but unadulterated love for his/her patients? And as MDs/DOs are forced to squeeze in more patients in a day (15 min appointments) can they really maximize on the bedside manner when they're rushed? I do like helping people, but I'm far from a wholly selfless person, and IMO telling someone medicine isn't for them because of that seems pretty ridiculous, realistically speaking.

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[deleted480308]

Only idiots with no loans say that kind of crap

 

[da8s0859q]

It seems like the majority of posters on pre-allo agree that you shouldn't go into medicine unless you're completely altruistic- you love helping people and being nurturing/compassionate/emphatic 24/7. Realistically, is a sleep-deprived, stressed out, "miserable" resident even capable of exuding nothing but unadulterated love for his/her patients? And as MDs/DOs are forced to squeeze in more patients in a day (15 min appointments) can they really maximize on the bedside manner when they're rushed? I do like helping people, but I'm far from a wholly selfless person, and IMO telling someone medicine isn't for them because of that seems pretty ridiculous, realistically speaking.

It's pre-allo. We were all premeds once -- some more pragmatic than others -- but let's be honest. It's easy to be idealistic about something when you've never done it before.

There's a good reason why pre-allo has a very different tone to it compared to my specialty forum (EM) or most of the others.

 

[Gilakend]

In my (high schooler) opinion, it seems just as foolish to go into medicine solely to help people without considering the financial situation as it is going into medicine solely for the money.

 

[da8s0859q]

In my (high schooler) opinion, it seems just as foolish to go into medicine solely to help people without considering the financial situation as it is going into medicine solely for the money.

Wise high schooler opinion.

 

[Winged Scapula]

It seems like the majority of posters on pre-allo agree that you shouldn't go into medicine unless you're completely altruistic- you love helping people and being nurturing/compassionate/emphatic 24/7. Realistically, is a sleep-deprived, stressed out, "miserable" resident even capable of exuding nothing but unadulterated love for his/her patients? And as MDs/DOs are forced to squeeze in more patients in a day (15 min appointments) can they really maximize on the bedside manner when they're rushed? I do like helping people, but I'm far from a wholly selfless person, and IMO telling someone medicine isn't for them because of that seems pretty ridiculous, realistically speaking.

No one is nurturing/compassionate/empathic 24/7.

I have a pretty darn good bedside manner; I enjoy helping people, interact easily with them and enjoy what I do.

But frankly some patients are complete dinguses; many are probably like that on a day to day basis and not just because they're ill. It would be ridiculous for me to "exude unadulterated love" for those types of people. I'll still help them (as long as they aren't being abusive to me or my staff) but I won't enjoy (and don't try and make me ).

Medicine is a business. Its naive to ignore the financial realities. One of the most empathic surgeons I know (in terms of spending time with patients, always deferring to their needs, going out of her way to do things for them, even when not necessary) is the worst business woman. She cannot make a practice run because she spends too much time with patients and hence her volume is too low to sustain a private practice. My POV is that spending a lot of time with someone doesn't necessarily translate into more empathy, more nurturing or better care; the actual amount of time you spend with them is rather meaningless, its how that time is perceived by patients. If you look rushed, patients will perceive that they received less care than they actually did.