I've wondered just how oncologists should deal with the emotional stress associated with their jobs, people dying, etc. On one hand, it isn't good to bottle things up, but it can't be that great either to unload that stress onto family/friends who aren't in the field. I recently talked to two oncologists in similar career stages about this.
Dr. A - Married, w/ kids, says that he prefers to compartmentalize his career from his personal life and not bring up the dying patient stuff around his family. Says he doesn't think it's healthy, but not sure there's an alternative.
Dr. B - Single, no family, she seems more reflective about what she encounters w/ patients and willing/able to devote more of herself to her job (not in a workaholic way, per se, but emotionally). On the surface seems like a more healthy approach, but given the absence of family I wonder if she has a support network of any kind.
So which approach is healthier? Clearly there are multiple variables in the above comparison - male vs. female, married vs. single, ability to put more into caring for patients, but how do you think oncologists should approach the daily struggles of their profession?
Dr. A - Married, w/ kids, says that he prefers to compartmentalize his career from his personal life and not bring up the dying patient stuff around his family. Says he doesn't think it's healthy, but not sure there's an alternative.
Dr. B - Single, no family, she seems more reflective about what she encounters w/ patients and willing/able to devote more of herself to her job (not in a workaholic way, per se, but emotionally). On the surface seems like a more healthy approach, but given the absence of family I wonder if she has a support network of any kind.
So which approach is healthier? Clearly there are multiple variables in the above comparison - male vs. female, married vs. single, ability to put more into caring for patients, but how do you think oncologists should approach the daily struggles of their profession?