EGO ON THE GO!

Professional ego is more commonly seen in medical profession.This can be either personal or professional It is the basic nature of every human being to claim the superiority over others thinking that someone is more perfect than the other or somebody has got additional capabilities over his fellows.A colleague who is smart and capable with sound professional knowledge could be the envy of others.This ego is more common among the anaesthesiologists as several techniques and methods are ppossible to anaesthetise a particular patient or to perform a particular procedure, (with the procedural advantages or complications specific to each of them) This ego unveils especially when somebody fails to perform upto their expectations. for example a consultant may feel depressed and ashamed when he is unable to put an epidural catheter while his assistant does it easily. I have observed a specialist attempting more than 8 times to insert a spinal needle in an obstetric patiebnt for caesarean, while the consultant observing this is telling repeatedly to abandon the procedure and go for GA. The specialist was not giving ears as he thought, failing the procedure in front of staff and gynaecologists may affect his reputation badly.This patient suffered severe post spinal head ache with nystagmus and vomiting for several days post op.You may also find some instance when the junior kept on praying that his senior should fail because he failed, but is seen depressed the whole day because the senior was successful in single attempt


It doesnt matter whether the physician is an egoist or not,but harming or to ruin a patient's body or health is strictly against medical ethics. One should identify and should be aware of his or her limitations as human beings and should see that most of the procedures in anaesthesia are based on blind techniques, and patient, positional or individual variations can occur. Luck also plays.so dont be hesitant to hand over the procedure to a senior colleague or ask your junior to try out with a different hand, when somebody fails in few attempts.

This article is originally written in  ANAESTHESIA TODAY blog, reported to be one of the top blogs in anaesthesia and intensive care and the best blog to be followed by students of anaesthesiology. Click the link below:
http://anaesthesiatoday.blogspot.com/