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What are you trying to say? "It's what they signed up for" sounds like it's hinting at a further claim, but it's not clear what it is.
by GavinMcG 6y ago
What are you trying to say? "It's what they signed up for" sounds like it's hinting at a further claim, but it's not clear what it is.
- throwawayboise 6y agoDoctors that I know don't get personally invested. They know what they can do, and they do the best they can for any patient. When you're a trauma surgeon in Detroit, you treat gunshot wounds every day. You can't save them all, and you don't take that home with you or as a personal failing or you will not stay sane.
- GavinMcG 6y agoThe whole point of the article is that many doctors have had to step into roles or acuity levels that were not every day material for them and not what they signed up for. A trauma surgeon expecting gunshot wounds could well find it much more challenging to be working as an ICU physician, where you can't detach yourself as easily, and where you can't use your most-practiced skills, and where you can't know by the end of the procedure whether the patient's odds are good. They specifically didn't sign up for that. It's easy to say "don't get personally invested" but even if you're not getting attached to particular patients, it's demoralizing to go from an environment where you see a range of outcomes (including some bad ones) to one where you're constantly surrounded by patients near death with little chance for improvement and where your skills don't necessarily seem to matter. That's not about being invested.