These are nice scenes, and I think we all could take care to remember the unique and compelling stories behind everyone else's lives, particularly the old. However I don't necessarily think the response is fair to the student, who could also be asking challenging questions beyond "old people suck, amirite?". Particularly:
- Don't you get tired of [emotionally coping with interacting with people who tend to have more health issues and issues with worse outcomes]? (Is it fair to want to see healthier individuals for your own personal reasons? How does one defend their psyche from seeing trauma so often?)
- Don't you get tired of [having to work primarily with a population that has a limited set of recurring problems that may not be as interesting or rewarding to work on]? (How ethical is it to want specific kinds of engagement from your job? Is it okay to be annoyed with individuals with preventable diseases and injuries?)
I have a number of close friends who are new doctors, and they grapple with these kinds of issues all the time.
> people who tend to have more health issues and issues with worse outcomes
I wonder if that's true, from the perspective of the doctor. The stereotype, at least where I live, is that old people will go regularly to the doctor almost just to chat, whereas a young person will only go when there's something wrong with them.
True, though it depends a lot on the field: most of my social group works in emergency medicine, where people don't drop in just to chat quite as often!
Or additionally, maybe the student is asking legitimately because they want to go into pediatrics, or gynecology, or a number of other fields where they are more likely to deal with younger patients.
We can't know what the conversation was like, or either the doctor or student's story, but I agree it's not necessarily helpful to the student to just wax poetic.
but "Don't you get tired of" is just a product of any focused career isn't it? Even the most novel of enterprises can become mundane in a shorter time than you'd imagine.
I think someone, like maybe this Dr T has, needs to find deeper meaning in continuing mundane work day in and day out.
- Don't you get tired of [emotionally coping with interacting with people who tend to have more health issues and issues with worse outcomes]? (Is it fair to want to see healthier individuals for your own personal reasons? How does one defend their psyche from seeing trauma so often?)
- Don't you get tired of [having to work primarily with a population that has a limited set of recurring problems that may not be as interesting or rewarding to work on]? (How ethical is it to want specific kinds of engagement from your job? Is it okay to be annoyed with individuals with preventable diseases and injuries?)
I have a number of close friends who are new doctors, and they grapple with these kinds of issues all the time.