母亲是一位临终关怀医生.docVIP

母亲是一位临终关怀医生 　　R ecently， I met with a friend who is both a physician and a mother. She told me she was worried she wasn’t doing a “good enough” job being a parent and was missing out on her children’s lives. 　　I’ve learned from other physicians that they also believe the demands of their profession will somehow 1）adversely affect their child’s upbringing. 　　I tell my colleagues not to worry， and that one day their child will thank them for their life as a doctor’s child. 　　I can say this because I was three when my mother went to medical school. 　　Growing up as the daughter of a 2）palliative-care physician wasn’t easy： I came to understand that the sound of the hospital 3）pager， day or night， meant my mother’s absence， having to share her with other people， and being exposed to human suffering and death were just part of my life. Nonetheless， being the child of a physician had a positive effect on my life. I learned and experienced many things because my mother became a doctor when she did. Here are four of them. 　　1） I learned how others experience life. Through my mother’s work I was exposed to a variety of people， lifestyles， cultures and circumstances. I met patients who were dying and in pain， and their families. Many were happy， but some were angry or upset， or suffering from addictions， mental illness， poverty or isolation. I went along on home visits to people who were poor and dying alone. 　　I learned that these experiences， while sad， are realities for others. That many people don’t live the same secure life I do， and that life， while good， can be hard. 　　2） I learned that status doesn’t define the person. I was often in situations where I had to interact with other adults―health-care professionals， patients and their families. As a child I hadn’t yet formed socially constructed biases， so I lacked the social 4）inhibitions many adults have. Prominent physicians and CEOs didn’t 5）intimidate me because their status had little or no meaning to me.