Doctors and Plumbers...by Jamil Shawwa

Professions intertwine in a very interesting way when you stop, or you do not, but look or notice the similarities. Probably all human professions from the Garbage collector or the sewage worker, that is if we agree that these professions are maybe the lowest or at the bottom of the rank, to the head of state, president, queen, king, emperor, or as in the case of *Kim Jung IL, the most prominent and talented leader, whom has the title of the supreme leader, have something to do with essential human functions**. I am now and for the purpose of this article have for some time intrigued by the unbelievable and uncanny similarities between plumbers and Medical Doctors. They both deal with life function that without it no human can live or at least, cannot live for long. Plumbers maintain the functionality of the toilets, bidets, faucets, water pipes, gas pipes and then making sure that these pipes function for it's or in the direction of it's ultimate purpose. I mean I do not have to be graphic here, but you know, the restroom and the bathroom routine, I mean what if it's clogged, you bring the plumber, and this plumber would use many tools to ensure the smooth flow of the business in the toilets or the bathtub where it should ultimately reside; which is the sewage and from there we have another human function and another story. Doctors are the same, the have a body that is already there, and their job, if they do it right, is to ensure that all these pipes and all these organs function normally. Their job, the doctors or the talented ones at least, is to detect and prevent. Detect signs of certain things that might come your way and prevent those things or other expected things from developing into potential malicious objects, of course as much as they can do, sometimes no one can do anything. The magic word here I think is try, Doctors these days, generally speaking, do not try. Humans to them are numbers, objects, annoyance that they have to deal with. Technology have advanced so far that some doctors put their patients on a computer that will run a cycle of their symptoms and then prescribe the suitable medicine from the point view of the software, and at the end, the doctor, in this case, actually, the Jackass, would come, put a smile on his or her face and shake the hands and wish you well. See, doctors have become like greeters in Malls or shopping centers, their job is to greet you at the entrance and then wish you well when you leave. In between, you really deal with scores of nurses, lab technicians, and more nurses. Plumbers in a way are the same, except that they do the job themselves, they usually come to your home when a pipe is broken, a toilet is clogged, and similar things. The good ones, fix, detect possible signs of future or down the road problems and plan a prevention roadmap. See what I just wrote, it could be a mantra for anything in life. Again, fix, detect and prevent. The majority of the plumbers and the medical doctors are no longer do the things, I just mentioned. They fix, temporarily until it breaks again, and then they fix again and the cycle continues. Countries and among them the richest as the United States spend billions every year either in government funds or charities on research to prevent diseases, to fight epidemics, in advertisement on how do this and that but they do not invest, or invest enough in the most important aspect of this process or prevention in my opinion; the medical doctor, the student, the graduate, the resident. Universities- where it all should develop- are even worse; I have met many so-called resident doctors that I had to tell them what to do, what to check, what to detect, how to treat each human as a unique person that he or she is and not just a case. It is a shame the state of medicine not only here in the United States but all over the world. Go to the Middle East, and your heart will be broken. Invest in the human being and your investment will quadruple, and will multiply in a magical way, one investment, could save at least one life. To me this is the ultimate investment.


*Read: The Iraqi Donkeys Association: http://arabamericanwire.blogspot.com/2010/07/iraqi-donkey-associationby-jamil-shawwa.html
**Read: Garbage: http://arabamericanwire.blogspot.com/2010/03/concepts-and-cultures-part-ii-garbage.html