Duty as a doctor

By Kim Ja-young

When I was a medical school student, my biochemical professor asked us if one of our family members was seriously sick or had a cancer, who we would want to take care of them. Would we want a kind but less intelligent doctor or an unkind but intelligent doctor?

A kind doctor would always be congenial and give a good explanation about the disease and the process of treatment to your family. However you wouldn’t know whether he was taking care of your family member on the basis of the correct medical knowledge. On the other hand, the unkind, intelligent doctor wouldn’t give much explanation about the treatment or the state of the disease. However, he might study a lot and treat my family member with the precise medical rationale.

Who would you prefer to refer your family to for treatment? As for me, I would definitely prefer an intelligent, less congenial doctor. This might seem to be an unusual choice to make. Perhaps my professor asked this to make us think about what are the most important characteristics to have as a doctor. All of them, such as kindness, mental support, and medical knowledge are the important characteristics which doctors should have; however, I think that the most important characteristics to have as a doctor are a thorough medical knowledge and attentive care to one’s patients with that knowledge.

These days I am studying head and neck cancer as part of my radiation oncology residency at Asan Medical Center. I am surprised that so many patients, especially young patients under forty are suffering from head and neck cancers in Korea. Of course, all kinds of cancer patients suffer from difficult treatments, as well as mental fears and anxieties arising from dealing with their illness. However, if I had to choose one of the most difficult treatments, I would choose head and neck cancer treatments.

These patients usually visit the hospital at an advanced stage because their symptoms manifest late. This results in a necessarily aggressive treatment. Oral cavity cancer patients usually have surgery followed by chemoradiation therapy. Pharyngeal cancer patients usually get chemoradiation therapy as the first treatment.

Head and neck surgery itself is a painful procedure and the patients typically have mucositis, dermatitis and xerostomia during chemoradiation therapy. Oral pain caused by the oral mucositis is severe, so that the patients cannot eat well and they lose the ability to taste. This means that they lose an important motivation to live, since taste is one of life’s finest pleasures. Mental fear or uneasiness about their disease is also severe with these head and neck cancer patients.

Therefore, a patient’s desire and decision to be cured and to follow and finish the course of treatment are the most important things in head and neck cancer treatment. Also, the important factor to encourage patients to finish their treatment is the belief that their doctors are professional at treating their disease and they are doing their best. Sometimes, just seeing the doctor’s face makes the patients feel relieved. Visiting a trustworthy doctor can provide a kind of mental support for patients.

These days I am realizing more and more why doctors have to be sincere, meticulous, and studious. For the patients who are struggling between life and death, it would be criminal if a doctor does not do his best. Ignoring or being inattentive to his patients could not be excused with a smile or a kind saying.

I feel too inexperienced to talk about a doctor’s duties or important qualities because I am just a second year resident at the hospital. Sometimes I become lazy to study or insensitive to patients in my department. I feel as if I am seeing a patient with a common cold, because I see cancer patients every day. Therefore, working with these head and neck cancer patients is inspiring to me, and reminds me of my duty as a doctor.

There is one saying by my senior doctor that I always try to keep in mind. He often said to his patients, ``We are just doing our best, and the result is up to heaven.” I wish someday that I could be a sincere, studious doctor, so that I can be connected to my patients’ mental well-being, just as most of my professors and senior doctors are to their patients.

The writer is a radiation oncology resident at Bundang CHA Hospital. She can be reached at hontas0809@hotmail.com.