I'm afraid my sick relative is heading towards some pretty serious surgery.
There's every reason to be optimistic that things will turn out well--but right now, we are in a situation that calls for some gravity. As a result, I have seen more doctors in the past few weeks than should be humanly possible in one lifetime.
First of all, they're all awesome.
Second of all, having had a chance to observe various species within the genus, I can report that specialists are a whole different animal from generalists.
For example, the stroke specialists and neurosurgeons and spine specialists we've seen are different from the generalist who first handled my relative's case after the relative's admission to the hospital.
I'm sure this seems glaringly obvious in theory, but it's fascinating to see it play out in practice--specialists are looking deeply into one thing, while generalists are like infantrymen, preternaturally alert to everything.
I kind of prefer the mindset of the generalist. I'm lucky enough to be friends with a wonderful family practitioner, and the years which he's spent being ready for whatever walks through his office door have seriously ramped up his intellect and powers of observation. Whenever we get together, I like to watch his eyes. He rarely looks down; he thinks things over while still maintaining a broad gaze and processing what he's seeing. The habit of staying alert to possibly unexpected but important data is ingrained in him.
By contrast, the specialists I've been meeting are more like drill bits. They stare just as intensely, but with a tighter focus; they're looking for anything relevant to their specialty rather than anything relevant at all.
The thing is, their ability to do this is built on their implicit trust in the generalists who have come before them. John Q. Neurologist can be pretty sure that, if someone's sitting in their office, it's because a generalist--after considering everything and the kitchen sink--had good reason to believe that something neurological was going on. Specialists can relax and just do what they do because of generalists.
And then of course there are the nurses, sine qua non.
