Saturday, February 6, 2010

Inspiration

We were very lucky to have grand rounds by Faith Fitzgerald who was a great speaker and kept us very engaged with her magical medical mystery tour. Later on as we talked, I was extremely taken with her charm, authenticity and her love for the practice of medicine. It is so rare to find an Internist who retains their love of medicine and the patients who come to them.
One thing she said really resonated with me- I am paraphrasing but she said something like, if a hungry man goes to a grocery store and asks for food because he is hungry and the manager refuses to give him any, nobody bats an eyelid- the man runs a business and a business cannot be giving away its goods. Similarly, if a homeless man goes to a builder and insists that he be given shelter, nobody feels that he ought to be given a house. However, if a sick person goes to seek succor to a hospital and he does not get care, all of us are mortified and feel ashamed somehow.
This is why medicine cannot be a business.

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