[July 2003 journal entry]
A close physician friend mentioned recently a comment made by a fellow resident near the end of their residencies re my friend’s efforts as chief resident to correct flaws in the system – “David, it doesn’t make a difference. When you are gone, it will be like pulling your finger out of water. No one will know you have been here or what you have tried to do.” I have thought several times about this premise that expending time and energy to ‘make a difference’ is futile and without significance. This premise is not without insight. Infrastructures are especially resistant to change. And most of the ways we benevolently touch another’s life go unnoticed. This premise also raises the important question of motive (i.e., the importance placed on being noticed/recognized). Still, the analogy proposed in this premise breaks down at least slightly in that the finger stuck into the water leaves something – however difficult to trace/identify -- in the water.