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I don't understand this at all. What fundamental limitation of a mother prevents her from operating on her son?
by cpburns2009 11mo ago
I don't understand this at all. What fundamental limitation of a mother prevents her from operating on her son?
- VHRanger 11mo agoIt's a classic riddle from the late 20th century when surgeons were rarely female.
- cpburns2009 11mo agoBut what does the prevalence of women being surgeons have to do with a female surgeon being unable to operate on her son?
- f30e3dfed1c9 11mo agoIt is generally considered unethical for medical doctors to treat family members.
- cpburns2009 11mo agoThat would be the case regardless of the sex of the parent.
- VHRanger 11mo agoIn the original riddle the boy's dad dies in the accident before the boy arrives at the hospital.
- cogman10 11mo agoIt can be emotionally hard to cut into your own kid or to witness them go into a critical situation. AFAIK, there's no actual limitation that prevents this, but just a general understanding that someone non-related to the patient would be able to handle the stress of surgery better.
- cpburns2009 11mo agoI get that but that would be the case regardless of whether the surgeon was the mother or father.
- cogman10 11mo agoThe original riddle goes something like this > A father and son were in a car accident where the father was killed. The ambulance brought the son to the hospital. He needed immediate surgery. In the operating room, a doctor came in and looked at the little boy and said I can't operate on him he is my son. Who is the doctor? The riddle is literally just a play on "women can't be surgeons."
- cpburns2009 11mo agoThanks for providing the whole riddle. Now it makes sense.