human
Did you ever think, she said, turning to Mr. Beason, who was busy at the table beside her,
gpt
Yes--in a way, said Beason, adjusting his microscope,
human
Well, I didn't mean just taking one's pulse, she laughed.
gpt
It seems to me they mean more than prescriptions. For one thing, I think it's rather amusing the way they all practice Christian Science.
human
Why--what do you mean?
gpt
Oh, I've come to the conclusion that a modern, first-class doctor is a Christian Scientist who preserves his sanity --she paused, laughing a little at Beason's bewildered face, and at the thought of how little her formula would be appreciated in either camp.
human
I've noticed it down at Dr. Parkman's office, she went on.
gpt
It's quite a study to listen to him at the telephone. He will wrangle around all sorts of corners to get patients to admit something is in better shape than it was yesterday, and though they called up to say they were worse, they end in admitting they are much better. He just forces them into saying something is better, and then he says, triumphantly, 'Oh--that's fine!'--and the patient rings off immensely cheered up.
human
That's a kind of trickery, though,
gpt
Pretty good kind of trickery, if it helps people get well.
human
Well I shouldn't care to be a practicing physician, Beason declared,
gpt
I don't think it's such an awfully high grade of work, he went on.
human
In a way it is--of course. But there's so much repetition and routine; so much that doesn't count scientifically at all--doesn't count for anything but the patient.
gpt
But what is science for? she demanded, aggravated now.
human
Has medical science any value save in its relation to human beings?
gpt
Oh yes, I know--in the end,
human
All this laboratory work is simply to throw more power into the hands of the general practitioner. It's to give him more light. It's just because his work _is_ so important that this work has any reason for being. Dr. Hubers saw it that way,
gpt
But even that wasn't just what I meant, she went on, after they had worked silently for a few minutes.
human
What I was thinking about was the superdoctor.
gpt
No, not entirely crazy, she laughed.
human
For instance: what can a man do for nervous indigestion without infusing a little hope? Think of what doctors know--not only about people's bodies, but about their lives. Cause and effect overlap--don't they? Half the time a run down body means a broken spirit, or a twisted life. How can you set part of a thing right when the whole of it's wrong? How _can_ a doctor be just a doctor--if he's a good one?