📘 Part 3: Medical workers

This episode's vocabulary

Moderately (adverb) - in a way that is neither small nor large in size, amount, degree, or strength.

Symbiotic (adj) - involving people or organizations that depend on each other equally.

To treat (verb) - to use drugs, exercises, etc. to cure a person of a disease or heal an injury.

To supervise (verb) - to watch a person or activity to make certain that everything is done correctly, safely, etc.

To constitute (verb) - to be or be considered as something.

Chunk (noun) - a part of something, especially a large part

To implement (verb) - to start using a plan or system.

To put a human face (on something) (idiom) - to make (something) more appealing, easier to understand, or easier to care about by connecting it to an actual person.

Assistance (noun) - help.

On hand (idiom) - near to someone or something, and ready to help or be used if necessary.

Contagion (noun) - the situation in which a disease is spread by touching someone or something.

Pertinent (adj.) - relating directly to the subject being considered.

To tailor (verb) - to adjust something to suit a particular need or situation.

Treatment (noun) - the use of drugs, exercises, etc. to cure a person of an illness or injury.

To relieve (verb) - to make an unpleasant feeling, such as pain or worry, less strong.

Questions and Answers

M: Are doctors and nurses very important?

R: Well, if you're moderately or seriously ill, then almost certainly, yes. You need people to take care of you, when your body can't cope on its own.

M: Who plays a more important role, doctors or nurses?

R: I mean, that's a bit like comparing apples and oranges, really. They do very different jobs in the cause of looking after people and making them well again. And their relationship is kind of almost symbiotic. Without doctors, nurses have no way of knowing how to treat a person, and without nurses, doctors have no way of supervising and caring for so many people.

M: Are they paid enough or not?

R: Well, can you put a price on saving lives? I'm not sure you can ever be paid enough for that. Also, how do you define what constitutes enough?

M: But in general, do you think that doctors tend to be underpaid?

R: I honestly can't say. Because, I mean, in some countries, they're paid a ridiculous amount of money, and then in others, they're not. So it's hard to generalize.

M: Can a hospital function without nurses?

R: I wouldn't say so. You need someone to supervise and treat patients when doctors are unavailable, and generally speaking, there are more nurses than doctors. So if you take away such a huge chunk of staff from an organization, things are not going to go well for you.

M: What are the differences between the work of a doctor and a nurse?

R: Like I said, broadly speaking, doctors diagnose and nurses treat and supervise. So the doctor will determine what's wrong and how to go about dealing with it. While the nurses implement the orders and put a human face in a relationship on the issue. That's a very broad generalization, of course, but it's probably the shortest, if not the best one.

M: Is it necessary to learn first aid skills?

R: In this day and age, when medical assistance is more readily on hand most of the time? Well, probably not hugely so, but in more isolated and extreme cases, it could be helpful, like in a car accident, when help from specialists, well, like I say, isn't immediately available.

M: And why do you think people become doctors or nurses?

R: All kinds of reasons. It could be a family tradition, or they might even be pressed into it by the family. It could be the money, if it's a well-paid job in a particular country or the prestige, or they might just like helping people, or have a natural gift. There are so many different reasons.

M: And how does working in a medical-related profession impact a person's life?

R: Well, there's sort of two sides to this. It could be extremely stressful and perhaps even dangerous if you're exposed to any kind of contagion, but on the other hand, it might be really rewarding to watch people get better and to be a part of that journey.

M: What qualities are essential for someone to succeed in a medical profession?

R: Well, probably the same as any. Like, a reasonable amount of knowledge in your field and how to apply it, and then a reasonable level of organization and preparation as well. I'm trying to think of anything else that might be pertinent to that. But I think these things apply to all jobs, maybe good hygiene for someone in the medical field.

M: And do you think medical professionals are valued in society?

R: In society? Yes. By the people in charge of society? Probably not nearly enough.

M: Why not?

R: Because it seems like there's a disconnect between the people that are in charge of some societies, and the people that live in them, because they have so much power and money, and the people that live in the societies don't. So they won't value them as much.

M: How can technology influence medical-related professions in the future?

R: That depends on what kind of technology we're talking about here. For example, if it's things like DNA sequencing, it might make it easier to work out what kind of disease you're dealing with, so you can provide tailored treatment options. If we talk about mechanics, you could have machines doing the surgery, which would relieve the burden on surgeons.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your answers!