Credit card please?!!

by Ghada Atallah

It's the same question everyday….
How much money can you pay??!
If you pull out a credit card,
Then, we will let you stay!!

Have you ever heard of the old saying " you are worth what you've got; if you own a dime, then you're worth a dime…..it you’ve got nothing, then you're worth nothing!"??

Well, it's amazingly becoming part of our reality. Only I wish it weren’t so true among the doctors and health care professionals! It's really disappointing to see such an ideal mission aiming to help people to get easily swept off by the demon of materialism. Materialism has taken over our lives, our jobs, the way we live, behave, and it has even conquered our minds, the way we think, our beliefs, and common sense. This year, I've experienced that, and I've seen some of its worst consequences.

Last summer, after I finished my summer course, I thought about spending the extra time I had left doing something useful, both for me (filling my empty time, and getting more experience) and for the society. So, I thought about volunteering at a near by hospital. Actually, there were two hospitals, a public, and a private one. But I chose the former because the private hospital was practically empty. I spent most of my time in the emergency room. Every day, I saw hundreds of cases. There wasn’t even any room for them; some of them were waiting in the halls.

What is astonishing is that some of the emergency cases have gone to the private hospital at the beginning, because they were afraid of not finding room for them at the public hospital because it was always very crowded. But what really got on my nerves is that they were turned back by the private hospital, because they didn’t have enough money to pay!!! So, they desperately rushed back to the public hospital – which was across the street- praying to find room for them. These cases included a patient with acute appendicitis, and a woman in labor.

The portrait which I drew in my mind about medicine being an ideal career which aims to help people and save their lives was shattered to pieces. How could a doctor see a patient twisting and turning in pain and just stand there, doing nothing because that person didn’t have enough money to pay him??! Where are the values?? Where are the morals??

Well, unfortunately, this is reality. I hope that we, as future doctors can change this view towards money and materialism. I hope that each and every one of us can keep this little light inside us, our conscience alive. Because selling your conscience for the money is really not worth it. At least, this is what I think. I hope that you think the same as I do.