Why Are the Teachers in Surgery Unhappy?

Abstract

Medical teachers are facing many problems today—clinical load, patient care, administrative work, mandatory research and publication, professional jealousy of co-workers, unruly students, disobedient ministerial workers, and frequently changing norms and transfers. Add to this the financial strains, the lifestyle changes, and the family woes. In order to succeed as a teacher they should know the subject and its recent advances, and they should be able to convey it in the simplest possible way so that it is crystal clear to every student. They should have the ability to make the teaching material interesting and relevant, and they should harbor a deep-seated responsibility and respect for the students. With the number of medical colleges and medical students on the rise, scarcity of talented teachers, and constant comparison with lecturers on YouTube and the internet, their jobs are getting tougher by the day. With expectations like life should be fair, everyone should like them, people should agree with them and change according to them, they must be popular, respected, and well understood, and they must do well in life and be duly rewarded for their efforts, they are sitting over a pile of desires, which may or may not get fulfilled. Learning to accept what is, rather than what should be, is powerful. That is the paradox, which can be sometimes hard to grasp. Only by practicing this day by day can we start to experience and understand the freedom in letting go of unrealistic expectations and embracing gratitude and the present. Teaching is a great job and teachers are nation builders. If we stop chasing our expectations and cultivate a sense of gratitude for the opportunity that has been bestowed upon us we can all be happy.