Thursday, March 25, 2010
Speaking Out For Doctors
Another argument I heard today about this stupid bill is that it’s a-ok to pay doctors less, afterall, they make WAY too much money, the greedy bastards. Right?!!?!
Wrong.
Most in this country get jobs out of high school, after an Associate’s Degree or after a Bachelor’s Degree. You can make a fair living off of a Bachelor’s Degree. That’s four extra years of school after high school. Some people go on to Master’s Degrees and make a bit more. And why shouldn’t they? They’re far more educated than the high school graduate. And I’m sorry, but I went to college and an Associate’s Degree is really a joke if you expect to actually make some decent living off of that. You can get one of those at a community college. And, well, too bad if you don’t like what I’m saying but Community College is a breeze. I know. I spent two years in one. It. Is. Easy. In fact, I found it easier than high school. The Associate’s is just a stepping stone to a Bachelor’s Degree and frankly, I’m finding myself underwhelmed by those who have earned one. Nonetheless, they earned one and they deserve higher pay than someone who just graduated high school.
Now, we move on to Doctors. These people spend YEARS in school. And their schools are extremely expensive. And they do residency. Have you ever heard of the year of hell? Basically these guys get zero sleep. They are always working. ALWAYS working. They could put in a good 24 hour shift, get an hour of sleep, be up again for another 10 hours, get a few hours sleep, be back on another 24 hour shift, on and on and on it goes.
Doctors work their asses off. I’ve known a few doctors in my time. It doesn’t seem that they ever have any free time or time to relax. It seems very rare that they get time to themselves.
Most other people I know piss, bitch and moan if they have to work one hour extra of overtime in their 40 hour a week job. Some of you out there are asked to come in on your Saturday and work a few hours and you groan and carry on about how you are being worked to the bone, my GOD it’s not faaaaair!
Most people I know would rather not work 5 days in a row. And most people I know do not like jobs where they are on call. They want to make plans. They want to go out with their friends or spend time with their family. On call is just asking too much!
But doctors do it all the time. They don’t punch in at 9am and punch out at 5pm and that’s it, la de da, time to go home and sit in front of the television. They have patients. Those patients have needs. They have cell phones and get called constantly. They need to come in and check on their patients. This happens every day of the week, holidays included. And of course they are also constantly educating themselves further. Medical procedures change. New drugs come out. New discoveries are made. It’s a non stop job.
Now, of course no one can work 24 hours a day 7 days a week for their entire lives but doctors do put in a hell of a lot more time than the average worker. They can be out to dinner with their family and get a call. Guess what, gotta go, sorry guys. They can be on a vacation and get a call. Welp, gonna have to cut that vacation short, have a patient who needs them.
“Honey, I’m going to stop by the hospital real quick before we attend the school function.” Aw crap, while they were there, something came up and now they need to stay and handle it.
You know why? Because they are doctors. They chose this profession because they wanted to help people whether it be trying to save a life or making a bad situation better or even finding a cure for some disease, they work all the time and are just a phone call away at all times.
It takes a special person to be a doctor. Not everyone can do it. It’s not just about learning body parts and drugs and what to do, there’s more to it. There’s way more to it and those who say that doctor’s don’t deserve what they get paid don’t understand that at all.
And seriously, the first, what...10 years? of someone being a doctor, do you really think they’re making much money? Did you forget that they have massive student loans to pay off as well as try to make a home for themselves?
I wonder how many people lie on those gurneys, bleeding, in pain, wondering if they’re going to die thinking, “This asshole makes too much money.” Or are they thinking, “Doctor, please save me!” You know what? DOCTORS ABSOLUTELY DESERVE THE MONEY THEY MAKE! They are saving people’s lives! And because they are not God and they can’t save everyone, they try to make the suffering as minimal as possible. They do whatever they can to help people and I’ve seen some of them be very disappointed when they can’t save someone.
Can you do that every day? Day in, day out? Every day for the rest of your life? Can you handle seeing guts and blood and shit and piss and vomit and juicy innards sliding out of people and get over it and just try to save the person? Can you stomach it when a child comes in half beaten to death by his/her own parents? Can you get past the disgust when you see YET another shot victim? Can you remain pleasant when you see the same drunk ass fool for the third time this week? Can you handle it when you tell people over and over and over again the right things to do to keep their health and they keep coming in to see you because they never fucking listen to you but always want you to fix them? Can you work for hours on end without a break? Can you handle the pressure? Can you handle the mess that people are? Can you handle the negativity?
They can...or they stop being doctors. They can handle it and they do it. Because for all of that, they can also make a difference in someone’s life; make someone’s life better.
Why the fuck wouldn’t they deserve the money they get? Can you say, as you sit in your office job watching the clock tick closer and closer to 5pm that you have done as much as a doctor today?
They deserve it. Saying that they don’t deserve the pay they get and that they are being greedy is insulting and an invalid argument. Why don’t you tell your doctor that you think he/she is paid too much the next time you see them. Why don’t you tell them how greedy you think they are as they are helping you. I’m sure they’ll fucking appreciate it you ungrateful pricks.
