Doctor Herbert: "Well, of course, anybody can see that the patient is dying. It's just like that case a little while ago--poor circulation brings on lethargy which brings on panic, which further exacerbates the circulation problem . . ."
Doctor Smith: "Yes, yes . . this happens periodically. We should sit back and observe; let the patient's body get used to the problem while we calm any tendency towards panic. The body can heal itself."
Doctor Nancy: "But in the meantime, the patient will be in terrible pain. We should make absolutely certain that we do whatever we can to distract the patient. How about starting with new dental caps, a smaller nose, and removing the excess skin in his neck?"
Dr. H: "Nancy, that's crazy! None of that will do any good. We have to begin to restrict the flow of blood through the system to minimize the damage of the ongoing condition."
Doctor Walker: "Restrict it? That don't make any sense. What we oughta do here, is, is, is . . .maximify the amount of stuff going into the patient. See if any of it shakes anything loose."
Dr. N: "Well, I'm always in favor of maxim . . maximi . . . increasing the blood supply. Let's start by injecting into the left upper thigh."
Dr. S: "Must we do anything at all? The patient has the capacity to sort this all out on their own, and they'll be wiser, and more relaxed, and world more efficient."
Dr. N: "Yes, but we've left him to his own before, and he was in such enormous pain that we couldn't stand it."
Doctor Ronaldo: "But that pain is what forced the patient to change his lifestyle and figure things out!"
Dr. W: "See, we can't just let that pain go by. We've got to DO SOMETHING!"
Dr. S: "Remember your oath: First, do no harm."
Dr. N: "Well, isn't that quaint? But we live in the actual world where if we don't do something, the Chief isn't going to help us, and we may be out of a job."
Dr. H: "And we should be, too, if we can't manage to fix this one. We can do anything!"
Enter Chief
Dr. Chief: "good afternoon, ladies and gentleman. It looks like a real challenging case before you today. I'll be glad to help, but I think, with all your skills, if you guys can just manage to work together, give up on the usual practice of trying to get the credit, we can all see this patient through this problem. And we may make a few mistakes along the way, but I believe you can change this patient's life."
Dr. S: "Well, that's a good thing, Chief, if we can avoid our natural tendency to over- . . . "
Dr. C: "But we have to do what's in the best interest of the patient so that more and more patients will come to us and rely on our care.
Dr. R: "Well, wouldn't it be better if fewer patients relied on us, and instead . . .
Dr. C: "You know, we always seek the counsel and advice of everyone. But if you want to delay treatment while this patient is in pain, you can find another patient.
Dr. S: "But don't you remember a couple times ago, when the patient was doing the exact same thing? We actually made things a lot worse and it took that person foreverto get better again"
Continued another day . . . | |
