There’s no point talking to someone who doesn’t care. Or is too stupid to understand you.
A technician at an ophthalmologist’s office told me this afternoon that he had to touch my eye to conduct a test.
He had a can of some power drink nearby.
I asked him what it was.
He said it was tea but that it had some caffeine to help him on the long drive back to Las Vegas.
Understandable. After his shift!
I told him my Dad once noticed an assisting physician’s hand trembling.
Dad asked if the doctor had coffee that morning and the answer was yes.
My Dad told him that he would never assist him in surgery again.
And that was that.
I told this story to the technician and it did not register. He smiled a little and moved on to the test.
You can’t help someone who doesn’t want help or is too stupid to recognize help when it is given.
No point talking.
And that is that.
1 you’re not his boss 2 his boss doesn’t care 3 his hand wasn’t shaking 4 he’s not a professional, he’s a technician 5 he might have a low-level addiction 6 it’s got to be important to him… not a random stranger 7 it’s an easy rationalization 8 you don’t know he’s stupid 9 who knows whether your comment will sink in later 10 look inwards, work on your own imperfections
Anyone working in medicine owes a duty of care to their patients. In medicine, we are patients first. First and always.
My Dad said the toughest part of his job was walking into a waiting room to tell a family that their love one had just died. Despite everything he had tried. Few professions place this burden.
If someone in medicine doesn’t understand the burden that the duty of care puts on them then they need to get out before they harm someone. Like that dude with the power drink.
That applies to everyone in medicine, no matter their station. We are patients first and always. And as a patient I am perfectly free to judge a practitioner since it is my health that it is at stake.
This is not about me or my imperfections. I am not treating a patient. This is about insuring that someone in medicine does no harm.