I think that  doctors, since they deal with so much suffering, have to develop a way of emotionally distancing themselves or they’d be overwhelemed by it all. Think about how it affects you when someone you know and like is sick, and think how hard it would be if you went through that a couple-a-dozen times a day.

Unfortunately when developing that detachment, not all doctors get that that will leave them appearing like uncaring prigs. Some develop a good "bed-side manner" others don’t.

When I started working as an optician several years back, I got the job down, learned how to do it, and was pretty good. then one day I make some lenses for myself. I was about halfway through when the thought struck me that I might mess up. I rarely made mistakes, but these were my glasses after all. I was in a panic. It was then that I realised the need for a professional attachment to the people involved. As long as my committment was to the quality of my work, everything was fien, but the moment I allowed a personal involvement, my judgement was clouded and my effectiveness was reduced.

I want a doctor that’s an unsympathetic butt-head, but is dead serious about the quality of his work. Of course one that knows how to put on a good "concerned" face in his detachment is better.