A good friend of mine was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor which was judged to be fatal if not removed. He was faced with the decision of choosing which doctor to perform his lifesaving surgery. He narrowed his choices to:
- A very talented brain surgeon who was highly experienced in this type of surgery and would be capable of thinking on his feet should any complications occur. This surgeon was expensive, had a terrible bedside manner, and some of the nurses griped when they had to work with him. However, he was recognized by everyone in his field as the best brain surgeon around. or
- A very talented pediatrician who had been the first female doctor on staff at the hospital. Most recently, she had performed admirably as an assistant to the administrator of the hospital. The administrator strongly recommended her to my friend explaining that he had known her for years and was confident that she could handle what he judged was a critical but routine procedure.
My friend accepted the recommendation of the confident hospital administrator and had his surgery performed by the pediatrician. During the surgery, complications arose, the surgery took much longer than expected, and my friend died on the operating table because no experienced surgeons were available to help the pediatrician.