Why I Don't Agree With @aaronecarroll

I have often spoken of the doctor-patient relationship as a covenant. Our patients bear their bodies and souls in exchange for a thoughtful, engaged, respectful partner in navigating health and disease. This dyad, this trusted space, allows for the breaking of cultural norms and full disclosure.  Proper healing is an agreement, it is a relationship. Although often not spoken of, any successful flourishing healthcare system also requires another sort of covenant; one between provider and society.  Let me explain.Being a physician has changed me. For someone who naively went into this profession hoping to help people, the reality is much more nuanced and difficult.  I make decisions hourly, daily, that have a profound affects on people's lives.  As a mentor once told me, each successful physician has a graveyard full of patients with their name on it.  While I am not that cynical, I have no doubt that even with the best of knowledge and skill (and following medical guidelines and standards to the fullest), people have died by my hand.  I am not proud of this.  The thought keeps me up at night and wakes me early in the morning.  It literally turns my insides. I have to live with this.  Day in and day out, my decisions, treatments, or lack thereof may have immediate and devastating consequences.  There is no other profession with such a dire moment to moment routine.  Policeman and fireman spend just brief seconds of their ca...
Source: In My Humble Opinion - Category: Primary Care Authors: Source Type: blogs