THE FAMILY DOCTOR.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18362, 21 April 1925, Page 14

THE FAMILY DOCTOR.

A CHANGE IN THE CUSTOM. OLD METHODS AND NEW. Many old-time friends, many familiar figures in the life of a decade or two ago, have disappeared since the world- adopted the modern policy of ' speeding-up," and applied it to every phrase of human activity. The cabdriver, ' the gas-lighter, the organgrinder, and many another from the lowlier ranks of life have silently flitted from the stage of life. The setting nowadays is quite different, and these old-time figures would be an anachronism.

There have been changes in the higher ranks of professional life, too. and in this sphere of activity the passing of the years has witnessed the disappearance of one outstanding figure—the family doctor (remarks, a contributor in the "New Zealand Herald"). 'Hie younger generation does not remember him. To the majority of hoys and girls he will soon become a myth, politely accepted in the realms of fiction and in the wistful reminiscences of tlie aged, but a figure lacking connexion with the realities of life.

Yet to the grandmothers and <rranilfathers of the present generation, w hat a splendid friend he was, and how they miss him! His chief attribute was his "bedside manner." One venders how much attention to this important feature of a young medico's training is-given to-dav by the average student? Not much, if one may judge bv the air of quick, brusque efficiency, the "let's-get-on-with-the-case" attitude adopted by rising young men in tho profession to-day. Friends of a Lifetime. In the ranks of the medical profession in Auckland there have been many shining examples of the best type of the family doctor, true ornaments to their profession, the loved and trusted friends of a lifetime's standing. They are almost gone now, those older men, and their passing has left a sad blank in the hearts of many a man and woman now nearing tho end of tho span of life. In their hearts they had wished that it might have been this dear, old-time friend, on whom they had leaned in so many times of anxiety and trouble, who would have stretched out a cheering, comforting hand when they passed into the Dark Valley; but it was not to be . . . . the family doctor has made that journey first. And these younger men, the old folk will tell you, are not the same. They are efficient—oh, yes, there is no doubt whatever about their cleverness —-but they are so brisk, so busy, so—well, in a way so impersonal They have not tho time to make friends of their patients, and are not nearly so interested in obscure symptoms, and the recital of family confidences as the old-time medico. A glance down the years, say, 15 or ,20 years ago, reveals a very different figure ;from the brisk, young man who comes whirring, up to your door in a motor-car: powadays.A Flutter in the Household. No motor-cars for'the old-time family •doctor! Attired in a froek coat, ''a glossy silk' hat, with perhaps' a chaste white flower in* his buttonhole, pic- ' ture him sitting erect and dignified in his gig, or even, after the style of one leading Auckland doctor of other days, ■in his open carriage. How well the coachman handles the well-groomed liorscs, how admiring and respectful the glances of passers-by as they look into the benign countenance of tho doctor, so •dignified behind its spectacles and beardl What a flutter in some hpusehold, when the watcher behind the curtain suddenly announces. "The doctor!" What a smoothing of the counterpane, readjustment of the frilly pillowcases, titivating of the patient as, that firm, step is lieard marching down the passage! In cheery, persuasive tones he greets tho patient, seats himself in the armchair beside tho bed, examines-the out-thrust tongue, feels the" pulse, tucks the thermometer into the cheek, and -makes solicitous enquiry as to how the patient slept last night, what she had for breakfast, and so forth. And then tho delightful little intimate chat' that follows, the enquiry after various members of tho family, tho review of national affairs, nicely rounded off by a glass of sherry and a biscuit 1 What wonder that the patient felt himself or .herself braced and strength- | ; ehed after an hour or so of such bodily and mental stimulation 1 What wonder that the doctor got to know every individual patient,, that he came to be a veritable guide, counsellor and friend in. time of trouble or anxiety of any kind!

The Day of the Specialist. But the world has moved since then. Gone the beard, the silk hat, the frock ' coat, the groom, the gig. Even the glass of sherry and the biscuit. The day of the general, practitioner is almost over. Hie younger generation of doctors are specialists:. one takes your lungs and heart, another your nose and cais, an- " other your brain arid liver, and any as- ' sortetf odds and ends of your anatomy pass into' the hands of other experts. Instead of the doctor coming to seo you, you go to see the doctor, as long a"S you can totter there, that is. He still makes his rounds, briskly, efficiently, and he cures you, too, but he believes •' in getting on with the job, and has not time to spare for discussing it. He is as unpretentious in his dress and deportment as the man who reads the gas-meter. He is quick and cheerful, and doesn't by any chance encourage you to talk too much about yourself, preferring to form his own opinions. He dashes off. to another patient, leaving you with a secret wonder if he intends to charge you at so much per minute or per word. If so, the bill should be light. But as a rule it isn't, and probablv many a patient bereft of his oldtime friend, pays it with a lurking feeling that nowadays he is not getting his money's worfh. Which, of course, is taking an entirely wrong view of it.

Time is money nowadays, and down in the modern medico's waiting room there are thirty or forty people patiently awaiting his arrival. Some of tliem •will wait for hours, and even then the doctor will not have time to listen to half of what they want to tell him. . .

For methods change, fashions chance, forms of treatment change; hut v two things remain alwnvs the same, human nature and the problem of sickness and pain.