Not a profession--a passion!

Can being a doctor ever be only a profession? I wonder. I have often pondered over this question. Can it really be compared to designing computer software or being a librarian or an architect or a farmer for example? I do not mean to demean any profession but my argument is only, that as physicians we hold the power to directly harm human life and occasionally even kill. I know that other occupations also affect humanity indirectly but the sequence of events or chain of steps is rather long and not direct or instant.

But as physicians we are destined to observe the consequence of our every action in the form of a direct effect on human life in the form relief hopefully most of the time and in the form of pain, suffering and even death sometimes and usually within a clearly observable time span.

And it is not only about harming a physical being but also the tender emotions that the dreary patient often puts on that table in front of you. When in a state of half undress the person on the bed decides to lift the covers off his mind. Sometimes it sends a shudder down my spine when I find myself in the privileged position where a patient trusts me with his deepest secrets.

When I think about the ways in which we as doctors can mess up I realize what a great courage it takes to shoulder this responsibility even for the least conscientious person. For however crooked your mind might be, hurting a warm, breathing and moving body does not go down easily.
An amazing profession I have chosen! Many a times during our daily routines we get used to treating patients and forget this. But as soon as I have some time thinking about this great burden I have decided to lend my shoulder to, I realize my folly in hurrying to finish the rounds or a case, just to gain a few minutes and risk losing peace of mind for eternity. I realize how inconsequential getting mad at the patient who misses all appointments is. It makes me want to delve deeper into the realms of the human mind and get to the root of the behavior . I don’t think everybody realizes this, and if they do , like me they lose sight of it more often than not.

A clinicians blog

More often than not ,when I am alone ,in my car or between patients , a fleeting thought comes to my mind . It could be about anything --life , family, country , my profession as a doctor or even things like trees, sky , the road etc., in short anything that exists. And I feel that the thought needs to be penned down and developed further like a painting or a song that rhymes. What happens is that I never get around to thinking them through. But that is the tragedy of the life in the time constrained world. So I decided to write some of the thoughts as blogs. Maybe there are people who feel the same way. Since medicine is one of my passions I call this a clinicians blog.