Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1893-12-23
WHEN DOCTORS ARE ILL
THEY PRESCRIBE FOR THEM
SELVES WITH SUCCESS.
Physicians AiW@ys Appear In GOod
Health. rhouEh They oftsa saeeamb e
Dassase-when In need Of Specialist
They Cali In = Fellow Praetitlonsr.


One side Of . physicians character
is seldom seen BY his patients That
is when the doctor becomes 3 patient
and in turn has 10 have another
physician TO attend him This con-
tingeney never seems 10 occur 10 the
layman.
The doctor is always in good
physical condition when he makes
his round OF sick calls. He goes
where epidemics and contagious
diseases Of all sorts are rife. and II
he ever suceumbs 70 them his former
patients are not apt TO see him. so
that 70 the casual observer he APP
pears TO bear a charmed life and
70 be beyond the reach Of any harm.
barring perhaps a railroad accident
or collapse Of q government build
ing. But this is not so The physi-
clan is sick. not quite so often. per-
haps, as the average citizen, who
knows less Of the rules OF hygiene.
but every doctor knows what il Is TO
have had some Of his fellow prae.
titiOners under his care.
DIR. w. A. Hammond, in speaking
OF this phase Of the doctors life to q
Washington Post reporter. said;
Yes, the physician is subject 70
sickness as much as any other man
As a rule. he makes a worst patient
than alayman, principally. suppose,
from the fact that he misses the
moral support that is lent 20 the lay
man from his ignorance Of the pro-
fession- For instance. If you give a
layman a hypodermic injection Of
water and tell him Il Is morphine, he
will go 70 sleep almost as quickly as
though he had taken the drug into
his system, while a physician would
not take a dose in that way. and
when ne knew OF the deception il
would not have any effect on him
Then, too. there are a great many
other ways in which the physician
can morally impress and aid his lay
patients, but which fail when he
comes to deal with another doctor,
who says TO himself. oh. yes. have
been through all that myself. and
know just what it means
do physicians as a rule attend
themselves Yes ! should say that
they do. so far as they can. rather
than call in another physician. And
! don't know but what they do as
well or better. in that line than any
one else could do for them. A doc
tor, of course, can understand his
own symptoms ter than he can
describe them to another person. and
unless il Is a serious case he Is likely
TO De able to Great them successfully.
When. however. the case gets be-
yond his own handling he calls in a
Interpretations. and il he is wise
puts himself completely under the
other doctors charge, and does as he
is told Whether he does this grace
fully or not depends entirely on tho
man. and | think we have some OF
the best. as well as the worst. speci-
mems Of humanity in the medical
profession. The really large-minded
men are pretty much the same in
whatever state you find them. and the
little. contemplate fellows viii be
petulant and irritable when sick just
as any other patients
zone thing that now sends a ply
stefan TO another physician for treat
ment when he Is IN more than any
thing else is the cutting down OF the
medical field into specialties. and a
/ physician would be just as likely to
have a specialist to attend himself as
to have one for any other member OF
his family
IL have treated great number OF
doctors In my time. and the most
troublesome cases have been those
who have been afflicted with the NOR
phine or alcoholic disease ] remem.
Der one case. in particular. of a doc
tor who came TO me to be treated for
the opium habit. He put himself
under my care, and authorized me To
lock him up If necessary, which, how
ever, did not do until ] found that
he was getting opium on the sly, and
when he was locked up In a room
with q nurse with him, he got Ut
one night and. going to the third
story window, made d rope Of his bed
/ clothes and let himself down, and
broke his leg in getting to the
ground. Then he made a terrible
/ fuss about the setting Of the leg, and
declared that It was not done prop.
erly, and that he wanted the ban
dages off and the job done over. But
after the opium got out Of his sys.
tom he came around more like an or.
binary patient. and ] got along with
4 him very we'll
The only immunity that physi-
clans have from epidemic diseases 1.
that which comes from superior
knowledge Of the causes Of disease
transmission, and greater care in
4 guarding themselves against It. A
/ physician, for instance, would never
have the cholera except through
\ gross carelessnes5. for that Is {
/ disease that can be transmitted ONLY
through swallowing the germs, anc
this can be avoided by proper car,
and cleanliness. but in typhus fever
which is the most excessively con
tagious fever known. physicians are
I -. s,,,.,1 Af...