“How Doctors Think” was a very
interesting read for a nursing student sitting in Washington Square Park on a
Friday afternoon. The common thread that tied me to the park bench for hours,
even when the time got later and the temperature got cooler was that judging a
person by their appearance can prove to be life threatening. I found myself
people watching and thinking about how two years from now when I am hopefully
employed by a hospital, I will have to take not only my preconceived feelings
about a person, but also everything I memorized from a medical encyclopedia with
a grain of salt because patients are not so cookie cutter.
Aside from the personal reflection
I found myself experiencing after this book, a remark on the bottom of page
fifty- five reminded me of an article published in the health section of the New York Times tarnishing the
brotherhood amongst doctors I felt this book built up. The paradox presented in
the book claimed that “feeling prevents us [doctors] from being blind to our
patient’s soul but risks blinding us [doctors] to what is wrong with him.”
Around this statement are stories about doctors trying their best to properly
diagnose a patient, and when their attempt fails, fellow doctors seem to draw
together to share experiences of falsely diagnosing someone followed by
encouragement that one mistake does not make someone inadequate at their job. I
closed the back cover of this book with a sense that of an engrained support
within any medical practice and as stated above, they help each other learn the
balance between not caring enough and caring too much. The New York Times article entitled “Among Doctors, Fierce
Reluctance to Let Go” discusses the bitter tension that can build when doctors
view caring for a patient very differently. In the article, one doctor’s view
of caring for his patient involved taking her off of life support at her and
her family’s request. A fellow doctor who believed the woman could have
survived after a bit of time on life support responded by saying “You would have been hung in
World War II for doing what you are doing now.”
The medical profession sounds stressful just reading
about it. I wonder if the unrealistic expectations put on doctors, nurses, and
above is breaking down a community that would only succeed if it worked
together. Patients trust their doctors as early as their first five minutes
into a consultation because they have been put up on a pedestal as the solution
to a problem, but when dealing with someone’s life, are patients too quick to
condemn their doctor for an incorrect diagnosis or prescribing a medication
with weird side effects. Perhaps our social pressures are conditioning doctors
to turn on themselves in this profession where one of their decisions can be
life or death.
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ReplyDelete"How Doctors Think" expanded the reader's exposure to doctor-patient dynamics and the dynamics between doctors in the same practice. Groopman recommended that doctors should not remove emotions completely when interacting with patients, but also should not oversaturate themselves with a subjective perspective, owing to how both attitudes could result in tragedy. I also appreciated the numerous anecdotes you mention, for how they added humanity to the story. I felt that possibly, one of Groopman's more significant messages was for doctors to attain a proper balance, of compassion and responsibility, and to encourage a greater amount of humanity in treatment than the electronic, revenue based systems might promote. His arguments were well organized, with various different anecdotes to provide evidence. His approach also brought to mind how stressful medical professions can be. Certainly it is established that possibility for failure is there at every turn; the book seems to suggest ways in which doctors and patients alike may be able to expand their roles in any given medical situation involved. Following his examples may not achieve full prevention, but would encourage learning and open-mindedness for professionals, and a higher sense of self-responsibility for laymen.
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