FAT DOCTORS.

I can't concentrate anymore, there are too many faraway thoughts swimming in my head, and I'd rather not dwell on them or I might play Toccata in Dm on repeat. Mmm.. I shall write instead. Aren't you lucky, two posts in forty hours, during exam season. Actually, that's a tremendous achievement for normal periods. Fortuna te benedicit.

I came across this article trolling Medscape yesterday, 'Can Hospitals Say, 'Only Thin Doctors Can Work Here.' I laughed. It was almost as funny as the opthamologists are happiest doctors article. It's an interesting read, or listen; as it's a transcript of a vodcast, of a ethical analysis on the this Texan Hospital's latest policy.

Basically, the hospital is basing it's rationale on the idea that one cannot hold double standards. That is, one cannot tell a patient to keep fit and healthy if oneself is unfit and unhealthy, thus showing a hypocrisy in the physicians ideas. Hypocrisy is very much disdained in society for the lack of integrity that it shows a person has. Thought, typically hypocrisy is a moral dilemma. For example, it would be hypocritical for a parent to tell a child not to tell lies, then after that proceed to lie; whether or not in the presence of the child is irrelevant, the action itself destroys the parent's moral authority. While not a complete example, I am sure that you my dear can appreciate the situation. Within hypocrisy is the problem that whilst the moral teaching is correct, because the teaching authority does not follow the teaching, the innate sense of justice embedded in our souls spots the injustice immediately, and then the fallen human nature asks, 'if he, who is the supposed moral and righteous one does not follow his own teachings, why should we have to?'. After all, to be good and virtuous is a challenge that one strives for one's entire life. A life of sin is a life of laziness and easiness.

So thus, it begs the questions of whether being fat is immoral, and whether a fat doctor is morally capable of giving orders to his fat patients to be healthy and lose weight. Of course, ideally, everyone should be fit and healthy, and I emphasis that the definition of healthy does merely mean keeping one's weight within the boundaries of acceptable; it includes cardiovascular fitness, blood plasma levels of various nutrients, normal blood pressure, etc. Also, we do have a moral obligation to God and to society to take care of our bodies, for our body is to be the tabernacle of the Sacratissimum, and to contribute to society requires our good health. That said, a duty to the health of our souls is of much greater important to the Lord, and care for the soul will hopefully translate into care for the body through the virtues of moderation and temperance. Also, many would argue with regards to doctoring, it is a fairly sedentary job, so being unhealthy may not necessary cripple one's abilities to work. However, these points are not crucial in tho this question, and I merely them up to remind there is a duty to one's health. Yes, I am a really lousy writer.

So, returning to the moral question. I would argue that being fat is not necessarily immoral, save when it is caused out of conscious constant gluttony and sloth. While the hospital policy extends to all staff in the hospital, I shall only write with regards to doctors, since that is my area, however, I certain that the situation is similar for nurses as well. If one is familiar with the life of the junior doctor, one will know that the five years of medical school hardly provide much time for relaxation and personal time, in the latter part of school, studying is done on top of spending the entire day in the hospital, clerking patients or observing clinics or surgery. The years following graduation are similar; the studying never stops though now the doctor has the added responsibility of treating patients, and being on call. In Singapore, a call is 36hrs, and one has to do 6 a month. While the med student may clock off from the hospital on time, the doctors rarely ever do, there is always some patient that needs tending to, or some emergency to be looked into. Work begins early in the day, usually at six am, and doesn't end until six or seven (I might be exaggerating a little). Hence, there is actually little time that can be spent exercising, and often the temptation of eating a quick meal is strong. Who doesn't want to come home after a long day, grab a quick bite from a hawker centre of fast food joint and collapse on the couch? Also, there is the issue of smoking physicians, though most of them hide it from their patients. Hey, habits like that are hard to kick when you pick them up at 18. Hence, personal health sometimes takes a backseat to other pressing duties. However, this is not to let medical professionals of the hook, merely for you to appreciate the situation.

Anyway, being fat has nothing to do with being a good doctor. Doctors, of all people, know very intimately the effects and correlations to diseases linked to being fat. Furthermore, patients go to doctors to receive treatment and advice on how to cure their diseases, thus, what they are seeking is the doctor's knowledge, and medical skills. The doctors aren't personal trainers after all, they don't look after fitness, they look after health, though the two are related.

That said, it is a rather hilarious situation, considering, doctors are not exactly a commodity in excess in most parts of the world. Of course, the entire thing is a superficial ethical issue. Actually, the only reason that I am writing this is because I really hope this silliness does not become a trend worldwide. Well, actually, this is hope is more selfish that it seems, you see, I am about the size of a whale, and I really hope that I do not end up employable when I graduate in 5 years.

<--- david. That is humpback whale, by the way. I wanted to use a picture of a killer whale, because they are my favourite species, but they aren't really whales. I also thought of using a sperm whale picture, because most cartoons draw sperm whales, but alas, I am not so great as the magnificent sperm whale who fights epic battles with giant squid in the deep depths of the ocean, and from time to time butts heads with obsessed, self-glorified fishermen in submarines. So the humpback, a dumb, fat, gentle whale who makes annoying sounds. Sounds like me.