Role Reversal

One of the advantages of having worked as a doctor in private and public health systems for 39 years is that you have first hand knowlege of the relative merits of the surgeons and physicians who work in these institutions. For everyone else, it's a case of trusting that your primary practitioner's referral is based on his/her belief that the nominated specialist is the most appropriately skilled to manage your particular medical problem, (rather than being an old friend from medical school, a golfing partner or a reliable giver of extravagent Christmas gifts). But from the moment that your first consultation begins, you are no longer a medical colleague, but simply another patient.

The experience of being a doctor on the receiving end of medical care for the first time requires humility and passivity. To the medical clerks and ward staff you are just another patient. The "Doctor" honorific doesn't make it past reception, and your new title is "Love". The nurses may seem to be a bit bored and have tendency administer medication as if you're not there, but they are are skilled at their tasks and keep a close eye on your wellbeing. There is always a tendency to think that your illness and treatment are unique, but sitting in a comfortable chair for an hour or so while chemotherapeutic poison slowly drips into your bloodstream affords the opportunity to realise that you are just another poor bastard passively accepting the fact that the surgeons, having exhausted their repertoire, have given you up as a lost cause and flick-passed you on to the Borgias of the medical fraternity. Strangely there is no sense of camaraderie between patients. The chemo ward resembles a waiting room for job applicants, competitors rather than fellow afflicteds. Like competitors for lifeboat seats on the sinking Titanic. So, we'll see how that goes.