Why don't "THEY" ever understand ????

Many of you medicos would have come across this question in your mind at some point of time - either as a medical student or as an intern, PG aspirant/PG resident or ultimately as a practicing doctor.

"THEY" could include All Non-Medicos - Parents, Siblings (brother/sisters), Relatives (uncles, aunts, grandparents, In-laws), Spouses (husband/wife), Friends, and of course ultimately Your Patients - Let me tell you - they are totally justified in NOT understanding. Why ???

• A medical student spends almost 99% the time studying for 2 years after 10th standard - (11th,12th or PUC or Intermediate or whatever you call it) to crack the highly competitive MBBS entrance exam. "They" didn't do it.
• After getting into MBBS, the young medicos are totally overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information (Almost all books run into 1000s of pages) that  they have to study. "They" didn't face this.
• The medico spends more than a year sitting in a stinking dissection hall in front of dead bodies stored in formalin filled tanks and learns anatomy by dissecting these cadavers. They also carry bones in their college bags for learning anatomy. "They" didn't do it.
• Again the medicos view fresh dead bodies being cut open in the forensic medicine department as a part of the autopsy/post mortem. "They" didn't do it.
• Most medicos slowly lose touch with their hobbies, their sports, their school friends because they just don't have time for these, Studying takes up ALL of their time. "They" didn't go through this.
• While other students of the same age in other non-medical fields have time to party and enjoy, most medicos lose out on this - again - because they just don't have time for these, Studying takes up ALL of their time. "They" didn't go through this.
• Attending family functions becomes a thing of the past  - because the medicos just don't have time for these, Studying takes up ALL of their time. "They" didn't go through this.
• Once internship begins, life becomes even more hectic with many continuous 24-36 hours duties - spent all among sick people. "They" didn't go through this.
• While most other non - medical people get jobs and start earning - the interns get a meagre stipend in most cases which cannot be compared with their counterparts in other fields at all. "They" didn't go through this.
• To get into post graduation (PG), it  involves another 1-2 years of continuous full time study for the PG medical entrance exams. The non-medicos wonder what's wrong with you - even though you are a doctor, you are still studying !?? "They" didn't go through this.
• Once the medicos join PG - it is considered as being married to the course, married to the wards/OT/the department for the next 3 years. The most "draining time" of a medico's career. This is also the age during which most of your counterparts in other fields are probably getting married OR are already married and starting to have kids while most medicos will not be in that stage. "They" didn't go through this.
• The "compulsory rural service" either post MBBS or post-PG in many states is another trial by fire.....poor facilities in many of these areas depresses the young doctors. "They" didn't go through this.
• AND the constant threat of being beaten up by an angry patient/mob in spite of your best efforts to treat the patient is not any encouragement either !!! "They" don't go through this.
• Finally, by the age of around 29-30-31 the medico finishes his training and starts his career (sometimes later -32-33-34 in case of super specialists). The salaries/earnings are quite low to begin with and the next decade is spent in trying to establish the career/practice and earn a decent living. "They" didn't go through this.
• Effectively, the prime of youth of medicos is spent in getting ready to practice the profession of medicine for the rest of their lives that will benefit thousands of patients. "They" didn't go through this.
• Most medicos realize that there the profession is not "glamorous" as the general non-medico public assumes it to be - the majority of a doctors life is spent among sick people - nothing glamorous there !!! "They" don't know this.
• Many a lunch/dinner with wife, husband, children, father, mother, friends gets missed because of the 'emergency' patient who arrives just as you are ready to leave. "They" don't know this.
• Most medicos understand all the above mentioned points and never complain, NOR are they sad/sorry for having taken up this profession. They consider it as their destiny to be in a field where they end up helping fellow human beings in the closest possible way.  "They" don't know this.

And I am sure you medicos can think of many more examples/situations that medicos face,  to add to the above list. When "THEY" - the non-medicos have not faced any of these issues - how can they EVER understand what goes into the making of a doctor.

So STOP begging non-medicos to understand - they WILL NOT - they WILL NEVER - NOT in a zillion years. The sooner you make peace with this fact - the better you will be able to handle your professional future.

All the Best

Dr Ramgopal