People are so funny. They say the oddest things without realizing it. For instance, at church this morning, an elderly lady came up to me and introduced herself to me. I told her I was "JoAnne's daughter". "Oh! You're the doctor!" she exclaimed. "Well, yes", I said. I didn't really know what to say. She asked about my specialty and residency and such. When I told her I will be an anesthesiologist, she said, "Oh, they are just as important as the doctor." I thought that was funny. Anesthesiologists ARE doctors. Maybe she meant we are just as important as surgeons.
There's an old joke about the curtain in the OR that divides the space between the surgeon and the anesthesiologist. It's called the "Blood-Brain Barrier". The surgeon is on the blood end, and the anesthesiologist is the brain. Really, people don't realize how important our job is. It tends to get minimized because nobody is awake to see what we do. Other doctors tend to talk smack on our profession..honestly, I think it's out of jealously. We tend to be a happy bunch, we like our job, and we make just as much money (sometimes more) as the surgeon who still has to run a clinic and do hospital rounds.
2 comments:
Wow. Congratulations on being almost as important as "the doctor!" Maybe someday you can be as important as a nurse and fetch me a diet coke.
Bet you $10 that lady thinks nurses handle the brain end of the deal.
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