Do doctors ever cry when a patient dies?

Question

Doctors always seemed cold and impersonal to me . I am just wondering if all they care about is making money.

Answer 1

Absolutely they cry. (I'm a medical student and I've been there.) I think that there are times that we all try to be tough for the families so that they have someone to be strong for them during their difficult time. Some do just care about $$ but not all.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

If doctors only cared about money, organisations such as Medicins Sans Frontiers would never exist and cosmetic surgeons would outnumber GPs.

If all doctors were to be crying for every death, do you seriously anyone could keep, say a cancer ward running? They only 'seem' cold but in reality, most doctors do care a lot about their patients.

Although the money is good, the hours they work would put most people off Medicine. For example, neurosurgeons can make over 500,000 but how many people can survive 90 hour weeks?

Then again, TV shows such as House and Grey's Anatomy are too comical to show what doctors' lives are really like. Most doctors generally see the same common diseases over and over again and have quite boring work lives.

Also remember they require at least 5 years of Med school, 1 yr of intern, 2 yrs of residency, 4-6 yrs of specialisation to become a proper specialist (GP is actually a specialty). So, after 14 yrs of seeing death, don't you think most would learn not to break down after a patient dies?

Answer 4

Depends, if they patient dies in front of them and they really got to know the patient and have history with them. I guess doctors cant be emotional ppl inside their space. Because they give so many bad news on a daily basis. They would be an emotional wreck crying for every single person.

Answer 5

Yes some physicians do cry when they lose a patient. You have to understand that they deal with life and death a lot differently than non-healthcare workers. They are accustomed to death and they don't always show their emotions. If we saw doctors break down and cry after losing a patient, one might think they were unstable. Don't be frustrated if you have a death in your family and the doc doesn't cry. He's just dealing with it differently.

Answer 6

Doctors are trained in clinical detachment. Some of it is necessary, I think; or else doctors would be sitting in the corner going bl-bl-bl-bl (run your index finger over your lips several times in succession) every time they lost a patient, especially those in high-risk specialties like neonatal ICU, cardiac-care unit, etc., who do in fact lose a greater percentage of their patients in a shorter time than general practicioners.

If you want to find practicioners of conventional medicine who do seem more caring than the average allopathic physician, look at the practicioners in hospice care. They seem to have more freedom to care for their patients, as there is no suspense about whether the patient is going to live or die.

Answer 7

I think so.. they are human after all. There are patients who become close with their doctors just because they are in contact often... it would be silly to think that when one of these patients passes away that the doctor wouldn't feel anything..

Answer 8

Emotional detachment allows some health -care professionals to function,but they pay a serious price for being disconnected.It is difficult to balance compassion with rational analysis.Some people go to the rational analysis in a big way,as compassion and emotional connection in some people's thinking 'gets in the way' of making sound judgements.

Answer 9

Some of them do. Doctors being cold doesn't mean they are just concerned about money, they're more like used to seeing this kind of stuff.

Answer 10

I'm a doctor, and I cry. I cry with my patients in joy and in sorrow. I go to their weddings, deliver their babies, and hold them when a loved one passes. Different docs have different styles.