A doctor's job is not an easy one. Being faced with high expectations from patients and questioned about their decisions is becoming increasing commonplace. Read more to understand this dilemma.Becoming a doctor isn't an easy career decision. It is a long road that involves years of intense study and hard work to develop life-saving skills. It is a rewarding job and one that is widely respected. However, there are some common misconceptions about doctors today that do not allow us to see them in this light. Let's find out what these are:

Do we treat doctors as Gods with superhuman powers?

The medical profession is one that carries a huge responsibility of ensuring the health of people. There isn't a patient who would be okay to leave an appointment without being told what's wrong, right? Doctors face a constant pressure of being right at all times, knowing all answers and finding a cure for every condition. Well, doctors are humans, just like us. Each medical condition that a patient presents is different for the doctor, and apart from diagnosing it correctly, there are numerous factors that are involved in its treatment. These range from the information on previous health records provided by the patient, severity of the condition to available treatment methodologies for the condition. A road accident victim, for example, may be given the required surgeries to prevent loss of a limb, but regaining 100 per cent functionality and appearance may not always be a given.

Do we trust our doctors?

In earlier times, a doctor's profession was considered to be one of the noblest. The specialized knowledge and skill to treat diseases was widely respected and followed by patients. So, what has changed today? Well, the Internet, a powerful tool that empowers information has allowed patients to find out more about their symptoms and conditions at a mere click.

Knowledge is a great tool, but it becomes a problem when it comes in way of questioning a specialist doctor's diagnosis or disregarding his/her expert opinion.

After all, a private consultation with a specialist with years' of experience in the field beats a generic, non-verified piece of information found online, doesn't it? Also, the growing trend of viewing medicine as a business makes it difficult for the many doctors who entered the field with a belief of providing best-possible patient care. Those large volume of medical tests whose necessity a patient may doubt could well be important in understanding certain underlying causes of his/her condition. While it might seem like a way for the hospital to make more money, in absence of that information, a doctor could well be blamed for misdiagnosis. A doctor practicing medicine has a challenging job. His/her day is unpredictable - not knowing if the next patient walking in needs a two-minute prescription renewal or a 30-minute assessment exam. A doctor's job carries a continual need to take quick decisions, and be right at all times. Yes, it is a tough job, and the doctors do it everyday.

Sources:Image courtesy of [stockimages] at FreeDigitalPhotos.net"Doctors and their spouses speak: stress in medical practice," Erica Bates, April 1981, School of Health Administration, University of New South Wales, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/1467-9566.ep11345586/asset/1467-9566.ep11345586.pdf;jsessionid=4AC70D52C475D2D3A221157D39C5CEA4.f03t04?v=1&t=i1xc203j&s=b792a957d733d7c3ace9460781bb3a343bb6bb58"Malcolm Gladwell: Tell People What It's Really Like To Be A Doctor," Forbes.com, Robert Pearl, March 13, 2014, https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertpearl/2014/03/13/malcolm-gladwell-tell-people-what-its-really-like-to-be-a-doctor/"Physicians under stress," AAOS.org, Alan H. Rosenstein, April 2010, https://www.aaos.org/news/aaosnow/apr10/managing7.asp