There is an upside but several downsides for doctors with this.
The upside is the obvious, that they know what the prognosis is, the damage done, and the quality of life if they survive for a while.
But the downside is that they are often just as ignorant about medical breakthroughs as ordinary people. These breakthroughs are often extraordinary, and can sometimes completely arrest or nullify previously terminal illnesses relatively quickly and easily.
And ironically, even if they are still experimental, doctors have enough “pull” to get in on the “new stuff.” Often they would be well greeted in such an experiment, because it can be assumed they will keep their objectivity, and give a learned opinion as to treatment effectiveness.
The other downside is all too human.
People think they empathize with others, imagining how they would feel in their situation. And they, even doctors, are almost universally wrong.
The best example of this was of two green soldiers, call them Privates Smith and Jones, sent into combat for the first time. In the heat of battle, Jones is grazed by a bullet on the top of his head, knocked out cold by the force, and is bleeding profusely all over his head and upper body as is common with even minor head wounds such as this.
Smith is horrified by how his friend Jones looks, and imagines that he is barely alive and in horrible pain, his brain destroyed, and otherwise gone already. So Smith decides to “do the honorable thing” and put Jones “out of his misery”.
About to shoot his friend, he is startled when Jones comes to, and seeing a rifle pointed at him, takes off running, with Smith hot on his heels, trying to get him to hold still so he can shoot the poor wounded man who is at death’s door and doesn’t even know it. But Jones *does* know it, which is why he is running as fast as he can to get away from the pseudo-empathetic dummy with a rifle.
Doctors are far too often in the same position as Smith.
They see people suffer. Or at least they think they do. But like anyone else, they can’t really scale how much someone else is suffering. But they assume they do, and they say to themselves that they don’t ever want to suffer like that.
“I would rather die than suffer like that.”
There is an upside but several downsides for doctors with this.
Doctors get a bum wrap. Damned if they do. Damned if they don’t.
I’m old. As I watch family members die, every Doc has been very compassionate and done his best to follow the families wishes.
If the patient and family want life and treatment no matter what, the doc will do that.
If the patient and family are given all the information and decide for comfort care that’s what the doc will do.
I will never forget the Doc that explained my father-in-law’s extensive cancer. He was able to communicate really bad news so gently!!!
Doctors are people. They have families. They take their patients home with them in their thoughts and prayers. They are deeply touched by human suffering. Not once in awhile, but daily.