Do Surgeons Actually Rejoice When They Get Really Sick Patients Who Require Advanced Surgery?

like on Grey's Anatomy?

This question was originally posted on Quora.com and was answered by Chelsea Meissner.


Short answer: ABSOLUTELY. (And I do mean absolutely so we can stop trying to edit the answer. If you read the whole answer, you'll find that I clarify what we're really getting excited about.)

There seems to be an incredibly obnoxious misconception about medical professionals somehow rejoicing in their patients being sick when referring to a "cool case."

Please, every person out there who has this misinformed belief, stop this thought immediately. I beg you.

We dont get excited that you're sick. It gives me no pleasure to see patients suffer.

However, if a case rolls in with a rare disease, an unusual trauma, or something you just don't see every day, it's probably going to pique my interest. I'm going to call it cool or awesome (or pick an adjective that way too many people find inappropriate). It's not about you as the patient. It's about the case. It's not personal, but you can't tell me that seeing a kid impaled by a tree who is awake and talking isn't cool. Let's all assume that when someone in the medical field calls that cool, we can save ourselves the effort of saying "Well not for the patient" because thank you for the firm grasp on the obvious.

The same goes for all the people who think that medical professionals are in patient care for some sort of bizarre sexual gratification. Trust me: we're not. I work in an ER and if we're at the point of having to look at your genitals, it's a bad day for both of us.



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