Ignorance

I have now moved to another major medical centre east of the Mississippi to do a clinical fellowship in transplantation and ventricular assist devices. Training 2.5 years at the Mayo Clinic was the BEST professional move I have made thus far (but I will address my experiences at Mayo in another entry). What I would like to write about now is the reaction I, and some others, get when mentioning the positive aspects of Mayo Clinic.

Unfortunately, the most frequent reaction has been negative. This reaction seems to come from individuals who have not "left" their own environment. By this I mean those that have not done a fellowship at all or a fellowship outside their own country at a major medical institution. The reaction is predictably defensive. When I point out something good at the Mayo Clinic, they say that they have, or do, something comparable where they work or perhaps something even better. If they do not have such a retort, the response is one that criticizes or belittles what is suggested.

At the other end of the spectrum are those individuals that react positively. This occurs, usually, when there is a shared sense of enthusiasm for what is possible in a medical institution. These individuals, invariably, have had an equivalent experience to mine at Mayo. They want to know more, how they can apply something to their own situation, or they give words of encouragement.

Not everything at the Mayo Clinic is good. But there are many more good things than bad ones. Being there has given me a benchmark for what is possible when the time comes for me to care for my own patients. I do know that much of it will not be attainable in the context of the public health care system in Canada. Nevertheless, many things are reachable because they do not cost any money at all (professionalism, for example).

I am very careful not to be too enthusiastic and not to annoy. I simply consider myself fortunate.

I can only speculate as to why some individuals react negatively. One possibility is a latent inferiority complex about their own training, capabilities, or their institution. Another is jealousy. Yet another might be that they are threatened by someone who has had the opportunity to train at Mayo. Whatever the reason, my internal reaction to this negativity was a similar defensiveness, annoyance, and even frustration. As I have matured, I now simply acknowledge their response, smile, and move on. However, inside of me is a sense of pity for someone who is ignorant of, and blind to, all the possibilities that might improve the circumstances and conditions for them and their patients.