Hell
There was a well-known orthopedic surgeon in St. Paul, Minnesota who did a lot of spinal surgery. When his patients screamed for pain shots, he barely ordered enough pain medication to prevent them from going stark-raving mad from the intolerable pain and suffering.
One year, the good doctor suffered an injury to his own spinal column that necessitated corrective surgery. Needless to say, the good doctor suffered intensely. i.e. He demanded three times the pain shots that he had prescribed for any of his patients. From that point on, all of the good doctor's surgical patients got more than enough pain medication after surgery to deaden their pain.
If any of you have ever seen the movie, "The Disorderly Orderly" with Jerry Lewis, you can understand why I decided not to become a doctor when I was in college. I have too much empathy for another person's pain. i.e. I can not stand another person's pain. My ability to emphasize with another person prevents me from being objective.
I offer you the following article by Doug Kelsey as a close approximation to what many people feel about those that seem indifferent to their very personal pain.
"I have questions. A lot of questions. My mind is just full of questions and these questions, well, they demand answers. And, I have to tell you, this really bothers me because my friend, Ross, is obviously a lot smarter than I am and he doesn't have these questions and what's worse is he's younger - about ten years or so. Isn't it always the case that when someone is older and smarter than you, you feel OK about it? Like, that's the way it's supposed to be? Obi-Wan Kenobe, I'm OK with that but, when the person is younger, it just doesn't add up. It makes me feel....old.
Ross said, "Sounds to me like somewhere along the way you became an answer guy and maybe you should just write the questions down. Get'em out of your head. And, not every question needs an answer by you."
"OK, fair enough, Just write them down and do what with them?" I said.
"Nothin'. Just let'em be questions," Ross replied.
"What's the point of a question if you don't find the answer?" I asked.
"Great question!" said Ross.
And so, here's a question, one of many, I had today. What if we could create an injectable solution or make it a pill or a cream but some vehicle that delivers a FEEL MY PAIN gene? You know, the one former President Bill Clinton apparently has. He was fond of saying, "I feel your pain" so I assume he must have some special X-Men kind of mutation. Maybe we could, through our advanced technology, siphon off his blood, examine his DNA, find the FEEL YOUR PAIN gene and develop a vaccine of sorts. We could make people who seem indifferent to us, who just don't seem to get how much we hurt, REALLY get it. An injectable dose of empathy on steroids.
Now, who would you give this new concoction to? Think carefully. I know a LOT of women would inject their husbands. That's a no brainer. And I suspect more than a few teenagers would like to hook up their parents with an endless supply. But, how about doctors?
Imagine how helpful it would be if your doctor could actually feel the serious pain he is inflicting on you as he jerks your shoulder around or yanks on your badly twisted ankle or pokes or prods or squeezes or says, "A little stick now" as he plunges a 10 gauge needle into your arm. And, prostate exams, well, they become an entirely different thing. I'll bet those get dropped from medical school curricula worldwide.
There would be no more waiting rooms, no more paper gowns, and ladies, yes, no more cold, metal instruments. If doctors could actually feel your pain, feel the exploding appendix, the dissecting aorta, the herniating disc, well, there just would be no doctors.
Who wants to be a doctor when you can feel all that pain? Just imagine what the life of a psychiatrist would be like.
So, it's good thing that doctors can't feel your pain. It's what makes doctors doctors and don't you forget it. So, never mind. I say can the whole idea of a FEEL YOUR PAIN gene and let's just stay with what works: indifference.
And, that's just one question."
Comments: I disagree with the use of the term, indifference. I believe there are 3 types of doctors: Inept, Good, and Brilliant. The good and brilliant doctors are capable of controlling their feelings for the sake of their patients. They are not indifferent. Ask yourself why the suicide rate is highest among doctors as a profession versus any other professional group?