Doctors, and Better Doctors?
A friend of mine is a third year medical resident and he’s been thinking about whether he should specialize in other branches within he field such as oncology instead of being your run-of-the-mill internist. It seems that internists are considered to be in the lower level of the “hierachy” when compared to the specialists. He wants to be a “better” and “more useful” doctor, but the question is what exactly is a “better” and “more useful” doctor?
It’s human nature that people want to excel in what they do. In our society these specialists, let’s say cardiologists or oncologists, are more highly regarded by people than your family doctor at your local clinic. These people specialize in areas that involve serious and highly fatal diseases. Thus only the very smart, talented, and motivated people can handle the work. Are they better and more useful than my family doctor? I personally don’t think so.
I can totally empathize with him but I told him from a patient’s point of view an internist is equally as important as a specialist. For example, if all the internists in my city decide to take a day off and absolutely refuse to see any patient, can these specialists take over without missing a beat? May be a few can, but they won’t be the majority. In the end, doctors are too specialized in their particular branch that it is impossible to expect them to know everything outside of their specialty, thus everyone is equally “useful.” In my opinion, a “better” doctor is someone who cares about her patients, does everything possible to make sure she is making the correct diagnosis and whether her patients are getting the appropriate care. There’s nothing more scary than seeing a doctor who doesn’t seem to care. After all, even a little mistake can lead to some grave consequences.
I’m not in the field of medicine (that means I don’t know crap about it) so I can only speak from a patient’s point of view. (Everybody has seen a doctor sometime during her life, so everybody has been a patient at some point.) While my friend ponders whether to pursue further in his field, I hope he understands that even a “lowly” internist can also be a very good doctor.
Leave a Reply