"If you treat a disease, you'll either win or lose. But if you treat a person, you will always win no matter what happened."
Hunter "Patch" Adams
i got this quote while watching patch adams and i wonder if we actually practise this. anyway, if you haven't watch this movie i'll give you a brief synopsis of the movie (caution: spoilers ahead).
the film tells the story of hunter "patch" adams, a medical doctor who became famous for his unconventional approach to medicine. after a suicide attempt, adams seeks psychiatric help and is institutionalized. during this time he was inspired to become a medical doctor, and discovers that he is able to forget his own problems by helping others. two years later, he enrolls at a medical uni and is the oldest first year student. he questions the school's approach to medical care, and clashes with the school's dean because of his belief in the necessity of personal interaction with patients. because of this and other incidents, he is dismissed from the school, although he is later reinstated.
adams later develops an idea for a medical clinic built around his philosophy of doctor-patient interaction. together with some old friends, he renovates an old cottage. when they get the clinic running they treat walk-in patients without money or medical insurance. he was dismissed from the school for a second time because he ran the clinic and practiced medicine without a license. he must attend a hearing where it is decided whether he can graduate. patch is able to convince the jury in a final speech that he did his best to help the people that came to him. in the end the jury accepts Patch's medical methods and does not prevent him from graduating.
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well, that's what the movie is all about but he made the above quote which really strucks me. even though he was referring to medical conditions, but it can also applies to our daily lives. how many times have we actually look beyond a person's profession and social status? remember that everyone has a name be it from the garbage collector or the doctor or the prime minister. since when we actually segregate people via social profession? since when we segmentize people via social status? what makes one profession more distinguished than the other? aren't doctors and ministers suppose to serve the people? if you are guilty of this, then i am the chief of it all.
in the days of Jesus, he sat with the prostitutes and he dine with tax collectors. he spends most of his time with the poor and the homeless healing their sicknesses and easing their pain. however, he looked at them beyond just a prostitute or tax collectors. he sees a person behind every profession and social status. do we? let's remind ourselves that whatever profession we are in, we do not held ourselves more highly than the others.
when we sit in a plane, we are sitting with various people from all walks of life. you have some distinguished gentlemen sitting in the first class and some highly paid executives in the business class to those normal salaried people sitting in the economical class. however, if the plane is going to crash it makes all those irrelevant because all of us is going to die anyway no matter where we sit in the plane (or socially).
"do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you."
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