Doctors have a code guiding their profession that sheds light on why we have come to hold them in such high esteem. Those who embrace such a standard for their life's work and attitude have a head start on a good life that has nothing to do with compensation.
We can all benefit from reflection on our own career: What is the value of our work; Does it make a difference in the lives of others; Do we employ the highest ethics; Are we modeling a code of living to our children and associates; Are we living our highest life?
I find it impressive that those choosing to be the guardians of our health also choose to commit to modeling behavioral standards. Lofty goals.
If we offered the same commitment to doctors that they pledge to us, their lives would be enhanced. But society in general, and we as individuals in particular, fall far short in offering our best to these we say we hold in the highest regard.
Our government guarantees its citizens healthcare in declining years but exerts constant effort to pay the providers of that care less and less until those providers have to choose between providing the care and making a living.
And we patients expect to receive state-of-the-art care while we challenge its effectiveness with a lifestyle touting eat, drink and be merry to extremes.
If we find our doctors frustrated today, it is no wonder. Maybe it is time for us to be as concerned for them as they are for us.
We don't all take a Hippocratic Oath but we can all adopt The Golden Rule. Included in Do unto others as we would have them do unto us is a premise to do no harm.
Jean Loxley-Barnard has been a writer all her life and studied both sociology and psychology at George Washington University where she earned a B.A. Her company, The Shopper, Inc., encompasses all the Loxley-Barnard family publications - The Shopper Magazines and Doctor to Doctor Magazine. She has been in the advertising, consulting and publishing business for 39 years.