Surgical Neurology International
OPEN ACCESS For entire Editorial Board visit : http://www.surgicalneurologyint.com
Editor: James I. Ausman, MD, PhD University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Editorial
Valedictory Clark Watts 310 Pipe Creek Lane, Georgetown, Tx, 78633, Texas, USA E‑mail: *Clark Watts ‑ [email protected] *Corresponding author Received: 01 June 14 Accepted: 05 June 14 Published: 20 August 14 This article may be cited as: Watts C.Valedictory. Surg Neurol Int 2014;5:127. Available FREE in open access from: http://www.surgicalneurologyint.com/text.asp?2014/5/1/127/139375 Copyright: © 2014 Watts C. This is an open‑access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
I Half a hundred years ago we stood with pride and took an Oath. No talk of managed care or tort reform; just who we were and of our calling. We sought worlds wherein our skills could cure or palliate and, when not, bring calm to those who suffered. Having heard: Ask what you can do… we set forth with boldness shrouding naivety and the blessings of our mentors, to tend to those in need.
II A cry of grief in the dead of night, the time when urgent is the norm; for us a challenge to accept for that is why we took the Oath. The enigmatic that perplexed we knew with time would yield to our persistence and to our treasured anodynes. So in their longing for that we knew they called for us, and in the glow of their respect we basked and dreamed. Yes, dreamed of worlds that did not need that which we knew.
III In time, the glow began to dim, and darkness came into our worlds. For painful conflicts slipped between the duties of our calling,
and the needs of us and ours. Along the way came funerals; solemn tributes to our limits. Such is life, and its end, we said, as we turned to reaffirm our Oath.
IV We began to question that we saw within ourselves; for some, position trumped collegiality, and status, professional norms, while peer review devolved from tool to truncheon. Then came those who did not know that which we knew or did, but with the power of the purse rejected that we offered. And patients became confused, distraught, infirmed by fright and anger.
V From where originates these troubled times, this cloud of wrathful doubt that drifts twixt us and those who seek our care? we asked. When time revealed to us those nexus of disquiet we took our leave to seek and view again the Oath. Access this article online Quick Response Code: Website: www.surgicalneurologyint.com DOI: 10.4103/2152-7806.139375
Surgical Neurology International 2014, 5:127 http://www.surgicalneurologyint.com/content/5/1/127
But did we do that which we knew to do, or did we yield to those who said: we know because we pay? They also said those privileges and practices arising from the Oath are not for now, and that our treatment plans must yield to those of those who know nothing of our ways except to calculate the costs.
VI Now, at dusk, as we prepare at last to close our doors, in the lengthening shadows
of those claims we ask ourselves: Of our dreams what did we gain; is now no better than before we took the Oath? The answers must come from each who toiled and struggled in search of better ways. For now as we review our days beyond the Oath, and draw comfort from the good we know we did, is that enough we ask to ease the pain as we confront that which we should have done, or that we should have not. And what now of the Oath?
Copyright of Surgical Neurology International is the property of Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
OPEN ACCESS For entire Editorial Board visit : http://www.surgicalneurologyint.com
Editor: James I. Ausman, MD, PhD University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Editorial
Valedictory Clark Watts 310 Pipe Creek Lane, Georgetown, Tx, 78633, Texas, USA E‑mail: *Clark Watts ‑ [email protected] *Corresponding author Received: 01 June 14 Accepted: 05 June 14 Published: 20 August 14 This article may be cited as: Watts C.Valedictory. Surg Neurol Int 2014;5:127. Available FREE in open access from: http://www.surgicalneurologyint.com/text.asp?2014/5/1/127/139375 Copyright: © 2014 Watts C. This is an open‑access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
I Half a hundred years ago we stood with pride and took an Oath. No talk of managed care or tort reform; just who we were and of our calling. We sought worlds wherein our skills could cure or palliate and, when not, bring calm to those who suffered. Having heard: Ask what you can do… we set forth with boldness shrouding naivety and the blessings of our mentors, to tend to those in need.
II A cry of grief in the dead of night, the time when urgent is the norm; for us a challenge to accept for that is why we took the Oath. The enigmatic that perplexed we knew with time would yield to our persistence and to our treasured anodynes. So in their longing for that we knew they called for us, and in the glow of their respect we basked and dreamed. Yes, dreamed of worlds that did not need that which we knew.
III In time, the glow began to dim, and darkness came into our worlds. For painful conflicts slipped between the duties of our calling,
and the needs of us and ours. Along the way came funerals; solemn tributes to our limits. Such is life, and its end, we said, as we turned to reaffirm our Oath.
IV We began to question that we saw within ourselves; for some, position trumped collegiality, and status, professional norms, while peer review devolved from tool to truncheon. Then came those who did not know that which we knew or did, but with the power of the purse rejected that we offered. And patients became confused, distraught, infirmed by fright and anger.
V From where originates these troubled times, this cloud of wrathful doubt that drifts twixt us and those who seek our care? we asked. When time revealed to us those nexus of disquiet we took our leave to seek and view again the Oath. Access this article online Quick Response Code: Website: www.surgicalneurologyint.com DOI: 10.4103/2152-7806.139375
Surgical Neurology International 2014, 5:127 http://www.surgicalneurologyint.com/content/5/1/127
But did we do that which we knew to do, or did we yield to those who said: we know because we pay? They also said those privileges and practices arising from the Oath are not for now, and that our treatment plans must yield to those of those who know nothing of our ways except to calculate the costs.
VI Now, at dusk, as we prepare at last to close our doors, in the lengthening shadows
of those claims we ask ourselves: Of our dreams what did we gain; is now no better than before we took the Oath? The answers must come from each who toiled and struggled in search of better ways. For now as we review our days beyond the Oath, and draw comfort from the good we know we did, is that enough we ask to ease the pain as we confront that which we should have done, or that we should have not. And what now of the Oath?
Copyright of Surgical Neurology International is the property of Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
