Nature of the Physician’s Work
The work of the physician is twofold. It is his duty to cure those who are sick and to keep the well from becoming sick. Usually he is not called upon until there is illness, so that the bulk of his work is with the sick. There are two general fields of activity for a physician, that of the general practitioner, and that of the specialist. Physicians in rural communities and small towns and cities must be prepared to deal with any type of accident or disease. In cities the tendency is to specialize on some particular disease or on disturbances connected with some particular part of the body. Some specialists in large cities are able to confine their activities to office work altogether.
The work of the physician is difficult. There is a great mental strain connected with his work, for often even the life of the patient is at stake. With the general practitioner there is a great physical strain due to irregular meals and sleep, and trips in all kinds of weather. Particularly is this true of the practice of medicine for its curative effects. More and more thought in medical science is being directed in modern times to preventive medicine, that is, to ways and means of keeping well rather than of getting well. The preventive work can be done under conditions more nearly those that the physician himself chooses rather than under conditions forced upon him as is usual in the case of curative work.