browniegirl86 said:
I get what you're saying, and agree to some extent. But why do compassion/caring and intelligence have to be mutually exclusive? I'd like to think that a physician should have both.
I think on this point it really depends on into which field of medicine someone is going. I don't think a surgeon needs to have much compassion, as they don't deal with patients directly very often. An exception would be in consultations, etc... they should obviously be compassionate enough to make the patient feel comfortable, but I think thats basically all thats necessary. Pride can be just as good if not a better motivator for someone to do their best as compassion or empathy can.
Primary care would be a little bit different. Here, the docs should be personal and sensitive to the needs of a family. However, I still think that intellectual capacity play a bigger role than a big heart. I want a doctor thats a great doctor more than I want a doctor that really cares about me. Sure, if he cares about me thats an added bonus, and I'd rather he not be a dickhead, but I still care more that he's a good doctor and able to critically analyze my situation.
I agree that this is becoming a huge problem in this country. I hate the "everybody deserves everything" mentality. It's just plain stupid. I'm not saying that things should be unfair, but I will say that there are a lot of people that shouldn't be doctors. A lot of the people that I've met that have gotten into medschool should never be doctors.
\begin{rant}
Where are the good candidates going? Probably where the other guy said... or they're just using their brains on their own time. I think another problem is that not as many great minds are being created anymore, as the school system here is ridiculous and most students I've met are lazy as hell. I can't figure out why most people are in college other than that its the next thing after highschool. They don't want to learn the material they take classes for, they don't go to classes, and even most good students don't learn much outside of their textbooks or lectures. Schools here seem to have taken a shift to teaching to the lowest common denominator in the class. If a class is filled with *******es, the entire class is dumbed down so that people won't have to chose between working hard or failing. It goes back to the "everyone deserves a chance" idea. Guess what: everyone doesn't deserve a chance at being a nuclear physicist either, unless you have the brains or a work ethic that makes up for it. Someone needs to get the balls to step up to some of these people and say "I'm sorry, but you're just not cut out to be digging around in someone's brain." I think the laziness seen pretty much everywhere in this country is going to be our downfall.
That being said, I personally think I'm pretty compassionate, at least when the case warrants a big heart and warm speech. I probably won't be compassionate to your needs if you're telling me how hard something is and you don't like studying on friday night. I'm not going to be compassionate to you if you're blaming someone else for your problems, or if you're complaining about how the mean medical schools won't let you in because you didn't work hard enough in college. If you have cancer and you're just finding out, my heart goes out to you and I'll do everything I can to help you out. If you live in a dirt poor area and you're making an effort to help yourself but just can't, again, I'll do whatever I can. Life still isn't going to be fair, but I'll try to help. However, no matter what laws or guidelines we put into place, life is never going to be fair, and mother nature isn't fair when dividing up personal attributes. It isn't somebody's fault, sometimes things just suck and there's nothing you can do about it. Don't make society pay for it.
\end{rant}