Lazy physicians

I chose to write about the article, "Sloth: American Idle" by Rafael Campo because it started off by making me laugh. The way that the author writes about the word sloth is humorous and so was the final story he tells about a patient using a commode. Within the humor was also an important message that each of us should hear. The message of the article is that we as future physicians need to always be working hard and doing our best for our patients. The author mentions a scenario where an attending physician only writes down the notes from a medical student and none of his own. He also talks about technology making us more lazy as well. The topic of laziness is directly connected to professionalism. It is not professional for a physician to cut corners when it comes to treating and interacting with patients. It was very unprofessional and lazy for the author of the article to go into the room of the patient and assume that she was being lazy by sitting in a chair, when really she was going to the bathroom. It is our job to assess a situation and take the time to understand our patients and their conditions. We will all have days when we are tired and want to "just get by". However, as a physician we have the responsibility to be professional and put our urge to be a sloth aside.