TIL that Aldous Huxley's descriptions of the effects of alcohol on fetuses in Brave New World predate the scientific recognition of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome by more than four decades.

Practicing medical doctors tend to have a very blase' outlook on things in general. With the knowledge they have, they tend to leave any kind of "icing" off of the cake when making decisions.

A patient may come in and feel like they are dying. A medical doctor will asses the individual and make a determination based on training alone, disregarding anything superficial. Those superficial things could be literally anything other than health.

People always seem to look for practitioners with a good "bedside manner", but that is not an indication of a good medical professional. Not to say some doctors can do both, just that the two are not mutually required to be a good physician.

The strange(or stranger) part of it, is that doctors tend to look at their own lives in the same way. They often refuse medical treatment in their final years and pass away without putting emphasis on the emotions or anxiety that normally come with mortality.

I imagine it's a burden for them to constantly set aside things they know are important to their patients, in order to be the best doctor they can.

/r/todayilearned Thread Parent Link - en.wikipedia.org