LogFAQs > #977296709

NightingaleMD posted...

Not a coincidence. I'm too busy to write this up now but there have been soooooo many comments about empathy between this and other topics.

See the worst imaginable shit, say the worst imaginable shit. Over time you realize...world wasn't quite what you thought it was, especially with the right exposure.

Fresh out of med school, one of the first attending I worked with did a thing that didn't really make sense until much later.

We had a really, really bad case. Made worse by a patient parent being intentionally deceptive and it resulted in his infant dying horrifically and needlessly.

Afterward he gave me a post-it note for my notebook. He wrote on it, "nightingaleMD's soul."

Then he tore off a small piece and gave me the rest. He told me every time something like this happens he's going to take another piece from me until I have "nothing left."

It was dark humor but it had a point.

See the worst imaginable shit, post the worst imaginable shit.

Or just keep my mouth shut and watch everyone be sunshine and daisies.

dont bother. I accepted the fact that people wont truly understand unless they work in the field. They think doctors go out to play golf everyday after their 9-5 job.

I also started laughing at the posts about empathy. You think empathy would matter in a lawsuit when there is actual no malpractice case?