The Ego of a Doctor: What Makes A Good Doctor?

Spirit & Science
4 min readApr 16, 2024

Skills can be practised, knowledge can be obtained, but kindness, empathy, and compassion cannot be taught.

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

God, doctors are beautiful. Sorry… let me rephrase that: doctors have the potential to be beautiful.

They have the potential ability to heal others, to nurture, and to make such a profound difference in someone’s life; an ability unparalleled by other professions. And similarly, doctors have the potential to negatively impact the trajectory of a person’s life by neglecting the responsibility given to them.

So, why is it that there seems to be an overflow of egotistical, under-trained, and lackadaisical doctors?

With great power comes great responsibility, and there is no title or career that offers more responsibility, and therefore power, than the medical profession.

When a doctor is tired and stressed, they can no longer function as a compassionate and well-rounded doctor. They are only human; they are just as susceptible to the mood swings, the mistakes, and the feeling of apathy that comes from being beaten down by the world.

But here’s the thing: do not enter this profession if you don’t have the capacity to be an intuitive and efficient professional whilst also maintaining compassion, empathy, and inquisitiveness under stress…

--

--

Spirit & Science

I am multifaceted: I am a lover of science & medicine, but also of spirit & mind. I enjoy exploring the dichotomy, the duality and the connectedness in between.