House Philosophy

I was struck down with a terrible migraine a few days ago. I think it’s partially due to the weather (hello, 74 degrees chased away by Canadian cold front) and my insane stress lately. For me, migraines are thunderstorms that wreak havoc in my brain. They make me stop and rest. So when I bailed on class last week because of said migraine, I had a couple free hours. The show “House” was on television and I gave it a whirl.

Lots of my friends keep comparing me to that Dr. Cuddy character on the show. I guess she’s the administrator who disciplines House, but I'm not sold on her yet. She and House discussed House’s diagnostic procedures and legally-questionable courses of action he planned to take. Instead of Cuddy holding him accountable and suggesting he modify his actions to conform to legal and ethical standards, she said something like: “Oh, it’s okay. When I hired you, I set aside $50,000 per year for your legal fees.”

What kind of crap is that? No administrator would ever admit to that, nor would any administrator voluntarily set aside $50k from the bottom line. Most hospitals are severely struggling right now, even the ritzy ones, and a $50k hit to the bottom line is massive. Okay, maybe not massive, but it certainly counts.

I’ve also decided that House is a pompous, arrogant SOB. The writers decided to make his character one who can bluff like a poker star, unabashedly betray the legal system, and do absurd things like lay on his office floor and listen to jazz. Admittedly, I could see myself doing that. Jazz can be quite calming!

I like House’s arrogance, but I’ve been struggling with this issue lately in my real life…the divide between arrogance and confidence. Where is that line when one’s confidence crosses over the line and transforms them into an arrogant jerk? While medicine (and administration) requires confident people, arrogance is always an issue. You’ve heard about the cocky physicians who have God-complexes. It’s a fine line between confident conviction and overconfident boastfulness.

On the other side of the same coin, you can talk about humility. I think humility only means you’re honest. You know your strengths, your weaknesses, and from a religious standpoint, that your talents come from God. Humility is not negative self-doubt; self-doubt never helped anyone. I also decided that after vacation, I’m renting a season or two of House from the library!