I have a few friends who are doctors. One is a primary care physician and he talks about the frustrations of patients refusing to take care of their health or adopt behavioral changes he recommends. Most just want a prescription so that they can continue their bad habits. The other said he went into surgery because he didn’t want to have to work with patients who won’t take care of themselves. However, he occasionally looses patients on the operating table which never gets easier. As an undergraduate I considered going into academia, and one professor cautioned that I need to be prepared to see the ugly side of academics and be willing to tolerate seeing something I love be sullied by inter-departmental politics, publish or perish, difficult students, etc. In short, I think all professions have their upsides and downsides. I think the answer is to care about your craft for your self respect. I think you have to do your best ultimately for yourself. We’re putting a lot of our time/life into our craft, so it seems to me we owe it to ourselves to make it mean something, regardless of the reality of coworkers, the need for a paycheck, etc. I will also admit that living up to such a challenge is a daily struggle, and I don’t always measure up to my own ideals. But I’m always trying.
