Focus and Concentration: A Must for Doctors

Sickness is something that can not be completely avoided. Everyone knows this to be the truth. At some point or another, everyone gets sick enough to need the help of a doctor. Anyone who hasn't, may have a problem that has gone undetected. So, there is just no truth to the old saying "an apple a day keeps the doctor away."

Being a doctor is very difficult because he/she has to always be organized and there is no margin for error. The reason for this is because of the life or death decisions that are the daily reality of being a doctor. Unlike casino gambling where casual risks are acceptable, a doctor can't gamble casually with a patient's life. It goes against everything he/she has been taught to practice in thought and deed. People in the medical profession are there because they have the desire and are trained competently to preserve life and not to casually waste it.

Needed Tools Prepared in Advance

Before a patient ever enters the operating room, the doctor will make sure all the instruments needed for the procedure are in their proper place and sterile. He/she won't have to actually do this job because there are nurses and scrub techs that set up all the items necessary. The doctor still needs to make sure that all is in proper order, though before beginning the procedure..

Once surgery has started, it can't be stopped in the middle because the forceps or surgical sponges are either not on the tray or are in the wrong position and not easily accessible. Such an occurrence would waste time and result on more bleeding than is necessary. Since the life of the patient is in the doctor's hands, he/she must use time wisely to maximize the patient's good outcome.

The doctor must know exactly every instrument that will be needed during surgery so he/she can quickly see if any are missing or in the wrong position. Incompetence is not something that can be afforded in this situation.

Narrow Beam Focus

The doctor also needs to keep his/her focus on the immediate point of concern. If the patient is having a hot gall bladder removed, it is not the time to be examining the duodenum. That can wait until after the gall bladder has been remove and the area completely taken care of.

The surgery could become unnecessarily complicated if the surgeon's focus strays from the task at hand. He/she must stay focused on the gall bladder or it could rupture if its removal is delayed because of a lack of focus.

Once concentration is diverted to another area, such as the appendix, a rupture could occur, causing severe infection and even loss of life. So losing concentration and focus would be considered an inexcusable error.

During medical training, doctors learn to keep a narrow focus in surgical and non-surgical cures and treatments. For this reason, a well-trained doctor is one that can be trusted when you get sick and need medical help.

Even so, there are still time when doctors make errors. Some have managed to complete training even though they are incompetent. These are doctors who should not be in the medical profession and really should look into a career change that would be a better fit. The medical profession is not the place for a casual attitude in focus and concentration.

The ability to focus and concentrate intensely is required of doctors. No one can be successful as a doctor without these attributes. If you have aspirations of becoming a doctor, work on developing the ability to stay intensely focused and concentrated on the task in front of you. This is especially important is you dream of becoming a surgeon