Although currently scorned or ignored, pity is an essential feature of our humanity and I hope to show that it is more important in clinician-patient interactions than currently realized. I have always wanted to serve my fellow man' is an overused response. Though financial and job security play important roles in the decision to pursue a career in medicine, so too do altruistic feelings. By the end of training physicians learn that feeling sorry for someone is bad, but feeling sorry with someone, or empathy, is acceptable. Professional judgement should not be overwhelmed by an emotional response to suffering in others.
Pity seems inappropriate, as it serves no clinical purpose.
Though the long, expensive medical training is a factor in this loss, larger social issues are at work here. It was thought that pity would get in the way of practical help, since to pity someone is to see that person as less than human and therefore incapable of overcoming whatever handicap he has. The fruit of that conception is that we have come to see victims of social, economic, or mental handicaps as people, and not as pitiable victims. The implications for art criticism are interesting though peripheral. Appeals for pity and sympathy may just indicate that pity is in short supply.