Respect for doctors is respect for life

  Many things in the world can be traded, except for life. In our country, the doctor-patient relationship has been alienated into a consumer relationship. If you treat medical treatment as a commercial transaction, it is a desecration of life and an insult to doctors.  Recently, a child with a serious congenital heart disease died in the People’s Hospital of Dantao County, Hebei Province, after an ineffective rescue. The family of the child gathered many people in the hospital to cause trouble, female doctor Wang Ping was surrounded by the family of the patient, unfortunately fell to his death while escaping. The incident caused a strong shock in the medical community.  In recent years, the relationship between doctors and patients in China has become increasingly tense, and violent outbreaks of doctor-patient conflicts have erupted, the doctor’s practice environment continues to deteriorate. Many people are on tenterhooks all day long, like facing an abyss, walking on thin ice. As one doctor after another is killed, the hearts of all medical staff are bleeding.  In a hospital in Oxford, England, I saw a notice titled “Zero Tolerance”: “We want our staff to feel valued and dignified. Even in the toughest of times, they will still do their best for you. So, please treat them with dignity and respect. The use of violence against employees will not be tolerated. We do not want our employees to be verbally abused, threatened or assaulted in any way.” This attitude of zero tolerance for violence reflects the respect and care for medical staff in the UK.  In fact, there are only two things to look at when considering how civilized a country is: first, how they treat women and children, and second, how they treat teachers and doctors. Teachers and doctors are the “most glorious profession under the sun”, teachers are the engineers of the soul and doctors are the protectors of life. If both teachers and doctors are not treated with dignity, the country cannot be considered a civilized country. In fact, in any country, doctor is a sacred profession. The reason why people respect doctors is that life is supreme. If there is no doctor, there is no continuation of life; respect for doctors is respect for life.  The current situation, the frequent occurrence of violent conflicts between doctors and patients in our country, to a large extent from the alienation of the doctor-patient relationship. In the hospital, I often hear patients say to doctors: “Spend as much money as you want, as long as you can cure the disease”, “We have spent money, if the child has a long life, I’m not finished with you”. This reflects from one side, the doctor-patient relationship has been alienated into a consumption relationship. Many patients believe that going to the hospital and spending money to see a doctor is a consumer behavior. The patient is the consumer, the doctor can not cure the disease, must pay compensation for life. Such a view seems reasonable, but in fact it is absurd. Because many things in the world can be traded, except for life. Money can be spent to buy any commodity, but not life and health. If you treat medical treatment as a commercial transaction, it is an affront to life and an insult to doctors.  The increase in violent conflicts between doctors and patients is also related to people’s misinterpretation of medicine. With the rapid development of modern medicine, the human life expectancy is constantly extended. As a result, many people have an illusion about medicine, that medicine can do everything, human beings already have the ability to fight with the laws of nature. As long as the most advanced technology, you can bring people back to life. As a result, science and technology were pushed to the altar, and medicine was marching in the wrong direction. On the one hand, doctors fell into the cult of technology, the blind pursuit of high-end medical treatment, resulting in soaring medical costs; on the other hand, patients believe too much in medical myths, at any cost to find new special expensive drugs, the misconception that as long as you are willing to spend money to cure the disease. As a result, many people’s expectations of medicine are too high, forgetting that old age, sickness and death are the laws of nature. Once a medical accident occurs, the doctor and the patient will immediately from “the same way” to “strangers. If the disease is cured, the doctor is an angel; if the disease is not cured, the doctor is the devil. It is clear that the doctor-patient relationship based on the cult of technology is fragile.  American doctor Trudeau’s tombstone has a famous quote: “Sometimes it is healing, often comforting, always to help”. This shows that the greatest value of medicine is not to cure disease, but to comfort and help patients. Medicine is not a product of technology, but a product of emotion; the practice of medicine is not a transaction, but a mission. Therefore, only let medicine out of the misunderstanding of commercial transactions and technology worship, the doctor-patient relationship can return to its original position.  Doctors are called “gifts from heaven to mankind”. A patient who does not know how to respect and appreciate the labor of doctors will not know the dignity and value of life. The doctor-patient relationship is a win-win situation only when there is mutual respect.