The Cutting Edge

     What is it about surgeons that they tend to be either loved or hated?  I belong to a site, vision related, which deals with a specific eye disorder whose only cure is surgery. The people who sponsor the site are of the learned and erudite sort;  the eye disease is quite rare , and only those who pursue a solution to their symptoms are eventually diagnosed, a process which is costly, time-consuming, and not for the faint of heart.  The contributors to the site are in various stages of finding a solution to their eye disorder.  Although many will require surgery, the path to surgery can be distant, or in some cases, unnecessary. There is only a relative handful of qualified surgeons, and fewer still  who are top-rated. Those patients who have had successful transplants at the hands of these select surgeons sing their praises to the heights, lauding every aspect from surgical skills to compassion and caring.  But there are some posters who maintain the opposite about these same doctors; they found them to be dismissive, unconcerned, and downright rude. 
     How can there be such a wide disparity of views about medical care from the same doctor?  Bear in mind that the doctor is a SURGEON, not your ordinary doctor.  If a surgeon determines that you are a candidate for surgery, he will be there for you, ready and willing to share his expertise with you.  If, however, he thinks you are not a candidate for his type of surgery, either because it's too early in your condition, or for some other reason,  he has no interest in  discussing anything with you.  He is out the door, ready to put his skills to use on somebody his surgery will help.  Rude, dismissive, yes, especially considering the price you pay, but he does not want to spend his time talking; he wants to perform surgery.
   A nurse recently told me of a patient who had been scolded by an orthopedic surgeon for asking about advice on medication, saying don't ask him about that.  I personally was told by a urologist that he does not diagnose, that he does surgery.  I guess he prefers to work from the referrals of other doctors.  Out of all the young people I've been in contact with over the years, a few have indicated they wanted to become doctors, and several indeed have done so.  I don't know of any young person who has expressed an interest in becoming a surgeon.  I wish I did, though; it would be interesting to see how surgeons evolve.