Too Stupid

Terribly politically incorrect I'm sure but there is such a thing as being too stupid. There I said it. These days with our limp-wristed stance on education, people are just so afraid to offer tough love.

After all everyone has impossible dreams - that particular castle in the sky just a little out of reach amongst the clouds. Some people hope to be millionaires. Some people wish to rule the world.

And yes, there are a handful who want to be doctors.

Unfortunately medicine isn't that simple.

And wishing isn't getting. With the surprisingly high attrition rate, there will be a few who just can't make the grade no matter how hard they try. Academic brilliance isn't necessarily a requirement for medical school but there's still a need for at least a modicum of intelligence.

So for kids with barely passable grades, please don't even think about it. Trust me when I say there are many better jobs out there! Geologists for one! :)


Paul : He barely passed biology in school.
Shalom : Time to dig out the torture rack?
Paul : I believe so.
But of course when the government sees a paucity of physicians in the country, it reacts hysterically by literally flinging open the doors to accept each and every medical professional they can find. Much to the detriment of the people.

Look, I don't doubt that there's a shortage of doctors at the moment - or should I say a maldistribution of doctors with most entrenched in the urban areas. But opening the floodgates to every medical school available in the region - including more than a few of dubious quality - just to fill up the doctor : patient quota isn't the solution here. Churning out doctors by the thousands won't help improve our medical services. All it does is bring in terribly inadequate intern doctors into the mix.

Kids who balk at examining patients. Kids who wield a needle and syringe like a wooden mallet. Kids who wonder what's hepatitis after five years of medical school.

Kids who can't even tell me what CPR stands for.

After five years of medical school, that's nearly unforgivable. And pampered as they are with their overwhelming numbers, you can imagine the interminable weeping when we give them the evil-eyed stare. Only a stare since hammering them too much only leads to repeated mental breakdowns I'm told.

And these callow interns outnumber the rest of us by a factor of 10 - so you can very well imagine the inadequate training they will get during their internship. Rather than the mass production of doctors, we should concentrate on improving the quality that we have now.

Otherwise we might have interns shabby enough that you might get a situation like this one day.


Seriously. Not knowing asystole? Now you see why the interns get hammered so much?

asystole
[āsis′təlē]
Etymology: Gk, a + systole, not contraction
a life-threatening cardiac condition characterized by the absence of electrical and mechanical activity in the heart. Clinical signs include apnea and lack of pulse. Without cardiac monitoring, asystole cannot be distinguished from ventricular fibrillation. asystolic, adj.