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Blue Collar, Blue Scrubs: The Making of a Surgeon QUOTES

Blue Collar, Blue Scrubs: The Making of a Surgeon QUOTES

1 " I'm taking inorganic chem and physics not because I want to but because I have to. Not every doctor wants to be a scientist. Some of us just want to take care of sick people. I can't help thinking that medicine is more closely aligned to the humanities than to the sciences. I can't help thinking that I could learn more about being a good doctor from William Shakespeare than I could from Isaac Newton. After all, isn't understanding people at least as important as understanding pathology? "

― Michael J. Collins , Blue Collar, Blue Scrubs: The Making of a Surgeon

2 " I'm starting to realize that I can't be a child forever, that I don't want to be a child forever. I've had my turn, and now it's time to grow up. "

― Michael J. Collins , Blue Collar, Blue Scrubs: The Making of a Surgeon

3 " We, who should know better, reinforce every patient's desire to hide from the reality of his own mortality. "

― Michael J. Collins , Blue Collar, Blue Scrubs: The Making of a Surgeon

4 " It is a remarkable achievement, but the neurosurgeons seem oblivious to it all. They have a job. The job requires skill. The job does not require emotional involvement. They do the job. Surgery was a success? That's nice. Next. "

― Michael J. Collins , Blue Collar, Blue Scrubs: The Making of a Surgeon

5 " And what makes it worse for me is a feeling that is inappropriate for me to express my concern, that it is somehow unprofessional, that if I want to be a good doctor I should learn to be more like the neurosurgeons: They do what they can, they give it their best shot, and then they let it go. If they have effected a cure, great. If a patient dies, too bad.
The neurosurgeons have learned to give their expertise, their skill, their time, but they cannot, they will not, give themselves. They don't allow themselves to get too high with their successes or too low with their failures. They can't let a tragedy from six days, six months, or six yeas ago affect them. It is not prudent. It is not efficient. It is not professional. "

― Michael J. Collins , Blue Collar, Blue Scrubs: The Making of a Surgeon