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Doctor Ivanich's 'Flawed In The District Doctor'

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Physicians are Flawed Heroes: Vulnerable to Human Imperfections The Father of Modern Medicine, William Osler, once stated “The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease.” Could a famous physician be vulnerable as well to a doctor-patient relation? Nobody is impeccable and every person has their unique tragic flaws. It is widely known that computers calculate mathematical operations much faster than humans because they only have one job, justly, if physicians were not distracted and focused on one mission only: to rehabilitate their patient, the job would be completed much quicker and much more efficiently. “The District Doctor”, written by Ivan Turgenev, raises these moral issues to light, …show more content…

In the short story, doctor Ivanich, is not a wealthy man and seems to be looking to help the rich people, because of the higher payments. A prime example would be when the doctor addressed the coachman: “‘It is clear, my friend, these patients aren’t rolling in riches.’…You smile; but I tell you, a poor man like me has to take everything into consideration.” (Turgenev 129). Regardless of the expected payment of two silver roubles, the doctor knew that the poor villagers could also give him a roll of linen and a sack of oatmeal in payment. Throughout the whole story, doctor Ivanich, not being a wealthy man himself, seemed to always analyze his clients’ financial state before accepting to offer medical help. A doctor should never refuse help to a dying patient because of an imprudent reason such as, not seeming capable to pay enough money. A doctor that only accepts to help a rich patient is indeed a flawed hero, because he does not want the best for the society but only wants the best for himself; hence resulting the tragedy of the …show more content…

A physician must always do their best at improving the patient’s welfare, which can be achieved efficiently, if they hold all their feelings aside until the patient is fully rehabilitated. The relationship found in the short story, between Aleksandra Andreyevna and Trifon Ivanich is unethical. “Now…yes, now I can tell you that I thank you with my whole heart…that you are kind and good – that I love you!” (Turgenev 133). The affection of the doctor towards the patient might have influenced the final outcome of her welfare, as it is stated in the story that Aleksandra only took medicine from the doctor himself. Possibly the doctor gave her too little or too much medicine, the readers will never know, but the conclusion is the same: the medication did not work. If the doctor was not in love, perhaps he would have noticed that the prescriptions did not help and maybe he could have still saved the young woman. Therefore, doctors are defenceless against human sentiments, in Ivan Turgenev’s story, the sentiment is love. This a huge blemish for doctors and physicians, because a patient’s life is endangered whenever a patient’s treatment is interspersed with human

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