Quackery Unmasked/Chapter XXIV
CHAPTER XXIV.
PROFESSIONAL DISCORD.
The old lady described by Addison, as being required to render up her final account to Rhadamanthus, declared that she "had been so taken up with publishing the faults of others that she had no time to consider her own." Now in order to avoid the reproach of such a condition, it may be well for physicians, individually and collectively, to keep a watchful eye over their own conduct. We are publishing no secret, nor making any extraordinary confession, when we acknowledge that there are many names on the lists of regular physicians which should never have appeared there; names of men not without talents or merits, but men who might have graced some other profession or occupation, and shone with lustre in some other sphere, yet are illy adapted to the profession of medicine. It is not every man who would make a brave soldier, or who could become an eloquent advocate; and the natural fitness of an individual for his calling should not be overlooked; yet the public, and sometimes the profession, appear to suppose that all that is necessary to qualify an individual to become a doctor in medicine, is a given amount of medical knowledge, and whoever brings this requisition, even if he have no other, is initiated.
Although it may be impossible to remedy this evil, yet it may be proper to consider it. The allotment of occupations and professions seems to be given to blind chance. Some apparently trifling accident—some freak of good or ill fortune—often casts the lot of an individual for life. Some, by their own voluntary choice, select, as the business of their whole lives, a profession of the duties of which they know little or nothing. Others appear to adopt it as a choice of evils, not liking anything else; nor would they like that, if they really understood what it was. The young man, unacquainted with his own undeveloped powers, cannot himself foresee how he shall succeed in this or any other profession. Mere scholarship is by no means all that is required to make a good physician. Long before he takes his degree—yes, long before he commences his professional studies, his thoughts and actions should be trained and cultivated for that end. The mind should be accustomed to patient and careful observation—to reflect, compare and nicely discriminate. And as a sine qua non, before and above everything else, he should possess undeviating integrity. If he sets out without this, he should be sent back, for he ought not to succeed.
A proper mental discipline is of the utmost importance. It is a mistake to suppose that a physician should be wise by intuition, or that he can see everything necessary at a single glance, and needs no time for thought and reflection. If he is loose and careless in his observations, he will be liable to come to wrong conclusions. If his mind is not accustomed to close and minute attention and careful consideration, he will be neither a good scholar nor a safe and successful practitioner. Every case that is worth noticing at all, deserves a thorough examination. Physicians are extremely liable to make mistakes through inattention to apparently small matters. Considerate persons are aware of this, and will not put full confidence in one who does not appear to bestow sufficient thought upon every subject to which his attention is properly called.
The moral and social habits of physicians are always matters of great importance. Pleasant, agreeable and courteous manners are no insignificant qualifications. All rudeness of every kind, should be studiously avoided, and every thought, word and deed should be governed by a careful circumspection. The days of professional obscenity and profanity are, or ought to be, past; such things are no more becoming in the physician than in the clergyman, and all refined communities should withhold their patronage from every vulgar or indecent practitioner. No matter about his supposed professional acquirements, if he lack the other essentials let him be discarded. The public can, if they will, reform all abuses of this kind. Every physician should be, in his address and behavior, under all circumstances, a real gentleman. It is not sufficient if he be courteous only towards his select friends or his patrons, but urbanity should be the warp and woof of his whole conduct.
His deportment towards his professional brethren will deserve particular attention. It is obvious to all, that the comfort and happiness of individual members—the worth of the profession in public estimation, and its usefulness in the community, are best promoted by an honorable and amicable intercourse among its members. But, unfortunately, the very reverse of this is frequently witnessed. Neighboring physicians are often either open or secret enemies: they are jealous and envious of each other, too ready to publish each others' faults, and with a fiendish gladness rejoice at each others' misfortune—little thinking, perhaps, that their own standing, and that of the profession to which they belong, are more or less involved in everything that affects the character of an individual member. It cannot be expected that the public will have full confidence in men who are constantly engaged in reciprocal criminations. Whoever attempts to build for himself a reputation upon the ruins of another, builds upon a slippery and precarious foundation, that will be likely to let him down. No lasting benefit can be derived from such means. One may rob his brother of his good name, yet it will not enrich himself, although it may make the brother "poor indeed." Although an envious public may sometimes rejoice to witness the petty bickerings and skirmishes that take place between rival practitioners, yet in the end they will not be likely to think better of either—they may be pleased with the treason, but they will despise the traitor. No one ever attained any enviable distinction by such vile means. Those who engage in such personal encounters, are generally found at last in the condition of the famous Kilkenny cats. If the whole matter ended there, we would not complain, but consider it a happy riddance of unprofitable members; but the public consider the profession itself dishonored by such examples.
This professional discord usually arises from mistaken views of self-interest, and, like a maniacal felo de se, seems to be incident to the profession. And when all these things are considered, no one need wonder that it is so assailable to quackery. The Scriptures declare, that a house that is divided against itself cannot stand. This moral disease is continually preying upon the vitals of the profession, and all reasonable means should be made use of, for its removal. Cure this, and let every regular physician forthwith dismiss all his private jealousies and animosities, and conclude to overlook the foibles which he thinks he sees in his brethren, remembering that none are perfect, and cordially unite with all in building up, improving and promoting the universal cause—let this be done, and quackery of every name and form and color would soon take wings and fly away—not as an eagle towards heaven, butit is needless to say where.