Doctor vs Lawyer

Sound cliche right? There's always doctor vs lawyer jokes. And doctors are always portrayed as angelic and good-mannered and charitable. Lawyers are the devil, cunning, greedy.

But hey, not all doctors are good and not all lawyers are bad. But my family is too blind to see the reality. I had a nephew (actually first cousin once removed). A brilliant one. His family, particularly his aunt (my cousin) coaxed him into becoming a doctor when he grows up. Now you see the pressure endured by most children raised in typical Asian household. He's still 10 years old.

I told him, there are other options. Not only medicine. And one of the option I suggested (it's never too young to suggest in an Asian family) was Law. Just to show that it's not necessary to be a doctor if you're bright. I hope he gets the point.

Upon listening my suggestion, my cousin got shocked with terror. "DO YOU WANT TO GO TO HELL????" she said to my nephew. Question. Do all doctors go to heaven and do all lawyers go to hell? Despite studying medicine for hmmmmmm... let's say a long time, I watched mostly police procedural drama or law drama. Not much on medical drama. Medical drama... just a few including Royal Pains and Hart of Dixie... is Hart of Dixie a medical drama? I'll leave that to your judgement.

The reason why, lawyers are on the verge of falling into hell is because they defend criminals. Hey.... that's not 100% true! Sometimes they are wrongly accused. And chances of defending criminals or bad peoples are 50-50 at most. Some are just disputes where nobody is wrong. They just need to settle some settlement issues. It's the same if a badly injured criminal, say a murderer need urgent medical attention. Doctors can't decline. Hippocrates oath... non maleficence and beneficence. Doctors need to help everyone without prejudice. It's the same situation, but of course doctors get all the praises.

Another reason is doctor can help, say if somebody can't afford the treatment, they can give special price. In law, it's called pro bono work. It's like to counsel for free. Can a doctor give free treatment. Not unless they are pharmaceutical company. Again, nobody heard of any lawyer giving pro-bono services but doctors giving discount rate, everybody knows.

My cousin added... "what if you are really defending a criminal, a brutal one, but because of client confidentiality, you can't disclose anything". I'm no lawyer, but I do thing in doing justice, a lawyer can't withheld any crucial clues to a fair outcome. They can negotiate to get justice done. And regarding confidentiality, doctors do have patients-doctors confidentiality. Say a patient with HIV, can you disclose the fact that he is infected with HIV? If a doctor discloses that fact, the patient would suffer from stigmas and prejudice. I the doctor kept the secret, then, the patients could go and have fun while infecting other. So there, a dilemma. Eventually, the doctor have to tell the patient's relative. Don't ask me. Confidentiality is actually a grey area.

Speaking of confidentiality, I learn about it while watching Legally Blond. Elle Woods kept a secret that could ruin her client's reputation. I don't see doctors keep confidentiality that serious. You'll hear them gossiping in the corridor about their patient. One doctor even blurted out a confidential history in front medical student. And medical students would gossip among each other on the patient. That's not professional, A confidential thing such as breaking bad news (in my case, breaking news about molar pregnancy to a single lady who denied having sex earlier) in front of a medical student. It was years ago. Breaking such shocking new should be done privately to avoid shameful situation. I honestly felt awkward and I wish I could erase that memory.

Another take on confidentiality. I was diagnosed with PTSD. So one fine day, a professor (who ironically teaches medical ethics) asked me in front of my colleague... "So how's your visit with the psychiatrist?" It was awkward. I'm not ashamed but I really felt awkward. I have no intention to hide the fact that I suffered with PTSD, but I would like to tell my colleague myself in my own words. For about a week, I had to explain from A to Z about my PTSD, and to clarify their pities and prejudice (yup... medical professionals still have prejudice toward patients with mental illness...)

That professor despite teaching medical ethics does not walk the talk,.. he blurted something confidential. One unforgivable thing is nepotism. His beloved son, got enrolled into the same medical faculty. Can't you smell something fishy. He is also a former dean. Nepotism or pure coincidence? Only God knows. But one thing for sure, I lose my respect to him.

Lawyers have this thing called Chinese Wall where if a law firm counsel both parties, the lawyers of opposing team would work independently to avoid conflict of interest. Seems like lawyer are serious in avoiding conflict of interest than doctors. A doctor's excuse would be, patient is always first... can't they stop having God Complex.

Doctors think that they are professional, but in handling argument, they are not. In my former faculty, doctors argue on little things in front of the student, like children. They call each other names. Can't they at least sit down and discuss their disputes like adults, PROFESSIONALLY. Or at least agree to disagree. But not by calling names or posting nicknames on FACEBOOK. Seriously, I lose my faith in them. Now, I'm more afraid of doctors than lawyers.

Well, to conclude, doctors are not always good and lawyers are not (always) bad. Lawyers are also good people. If a person is good, he is good no matter what he/she does for a living. My point of view might be biased but this is my personal opinion.In the end, it's up to you readers to decide.

Bye bye...