The beliefs of almost-doctors, a play in three acts
All participants are medical students. I am nearly done with my fourth year. The others are either nearly done with their third year or fourth year.
Conversation the first, last week
[somehow we started talking about kids with CP]
Him - something about how he dislikes taking care of these children, how he doesn't think we should be giving them as much care as we do because they might just be suffering.
Me - Oh I love taking care of kids with CP! I really identify with them!
Him - WHY???
Me - Well, I have CP. . . [I thought he knew this]
Him - Yes, but I'm talking about kids who can't communicate or. . .
Me - I know the kids you're talking about, they've been some of my favorite patients.
Him - [tries to point out more differences between me and the kids]
Me - that's a line I can't draw
Him - well I went into medicine to stop suffering. And these kids might be suffering, I can't even tell. We shouldn't be taking care of them like this.
Me - You know, I keep feeling like my medical school wants me and people like me dead. . .
Rage the first
This guy is going to be a pediatrics resident in about two months, and he seems to see kids who don't readily communicate as non-people. And can't figure out why another person with a disability might have a problem with this. Because I'm his classmate, so I can't possibly be like THEM. Some days I feel a lot more like THEM than like him. . . And they say I'm overreacting when I say my school seems to want to kill me and people like me. . .
Conversation the second
Me - No, I can't switch with you and do orthopedic surgery instead of ophthomology next week, My hands don't work well enough. I have clonus and half-normal grip strength.
Him - Did anyone ever tell you why?
Me - Yes, cerebral palsy
Him - Doesn't that mean MR?
Rage the second
CP does not mean MR. CP means "damage to the brain before age four that causes motor problems. Cognitive function isn't in the definition. Yes, some people with CP have cognitive impairment as well, and in a greater percentange than in the general population. Depending on the damage to the brain, it can cause that, or seizures or other problems. You were supposed to have learned this when you did pediatrics this winter.
Conversation the third
Me - You're doing urology? Did you go to the Spinal Cord Dysfunction clinic today? (mostly kids with spina bifida, some with acquired spinal cord injuries or other conditions)
Her - yes - there were so many people with wheelchairs. It really sucks.
Me - NO it doesn't
Her - I mean, it must suck to be a kid in a wheelchair
Me - NO it doesn't. Ask adults who use wheelchairs and most of them will tell you it doesn't suck. [Brandishes my cane] Lack of access sucks. Society attitudes suck. I know medical students who use wheelchairs at other schools, what sucks is that our school wouldn't allow that. It really scares me that people are graduating from medical school still believing that using a wheelchair sucks.
Her - [looses interest]
Rage the third - pretty much what I said to her. Only less tactful. And with a giant side of - it sucks that I have to stand here and listen to you tell me that my life sucks because saying that about one of us (i.e. a hypothetical wheelchair user) says that about all of us.