Sacerdotal Medicine
Illustration from an 1199 Islamic Book of Remedies
While we make fun of premodern medicine, regularly and promiscuously (and are about to start making fun of early modern medicine, regularly and promiscuously), it is important to keep reminding ourselves that there is an end to the madness.
Modern medicine has reduced our maternal mortality from 6 out of every 1000 women (the number most regularly quoted as a “guestimate” from antiquity) to a vanishingly low 0.1/1000. Most of that happened in the last 50 years, so we have a lot of fun left to poke, but there remains a body of conscientious and gifted men and women who did make a big difference. These men and women are the folks who brought us to the point where we can argue about whether we want an episiotomy or a birthing room, rather than whether we will live to see our children.
In that spirit, I present an art history lesson.
Ancient and medieval art is loaded with images of the sacred, and its relationship with the profane (the rest of us). Gods look on with serene faces while humans toil below. The regular and beautiful heavens are rendered in perfect domes set apart from the grounded world by rings of windows. The angels and saints have wings and halos, to remind us that they are sacred, and therefore different.
The halo derives from way, way back in antiquity. It arose as a sun-disk, surrounding the image of the god in question. It seems to transect all cultures, perhaps through syncretism. Pagan gods, Buddhas, angels, from Egypt, Assyria, India, Greece and Rome, ancient Jewish prophets, and even Christian saints are surrounded by sun-disks, later adapted into the common form of a halo.
To the ancients, it was obvious–these were people whose heads were in the sacred space, even if they chose to commune with us lowly, profane types.
Here’s the interesting part–
Medieval Islamic art portrayed physicians with sun-disks. They were sacerdotal men and women, one foot in the profane, and one in the sacred. They stood at the doorway between life and death.
As the healthcare debate rages, and doctors are often made the scapegoats for a system that doesn’t work, while reimbursements are being cut and patients often argue about bills from doctors that are far lower per hour than the bills from their plumbers, while many physicians in America were forced last week to stop seeing Medicare patients as reimbursements fell below the costs necessary to keep their doors open, it wouldn’t hurt for us to remember that these highly educated men and women are what stands between us and the doorway to life and death.
[This is an installment in the Nefarious History of Motherhood series. New episodes are added every Friday (give or take a few). You can catch up on the whole series here.]
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8 Comments
Lawyer Mom
Friday, 5th March 2010 at 9:46 pm
Tell us more about these medicare cuts. I thought Congress passed a "doc fix" every year. Did they not, this year? Interesting.
[Reply]
TheMother Replies:
March 5th, 2010 at 9:53 pm
This year, they let the cuts happen. A week later, they passed a belated 30 day belay (probably because their switchboards were lighting up with patients who couldn't get a doctor's appointment).
We'll see what happens in about 25 days.
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Stephanie B
Saturday, 6th March 2010 at 12:28 am
That was blocked by a single senator. Now, I feel absolutely that there is something wrong when it can be blocked by one idiot, but that's what happened.
[Reply]
Becca
Friday, 5th March 2010 at 8:11 pm
I agree with you completely! How is it possible that one senator has the ability to stop the doc fix?
[Reply]
The Dental Maven
Saturday, 6th March 2010 at 11:54 am
It's a good wake-up call for Dr. Rohack and his AMA cronies. If the Senate was so interested in the health and well being of Americans they'd permanently repeal the flawed Medicare formula. Perhaps the AMA won't be so quick next time to endorse a health care bill that doesn't include tort reform. Then again, the AMA never impresses me with their political acumen.
[Reply]
Jen
Sunday, 7th March 2010 at 12:05 am
I'm not a doctor but I was raised by one and when it was time for him to retire he was so glad to get out of it. It cost him more to be a doctor and see patients than he made in the end. He loved every minute of his medical career, he never woke up and dreaded going to work until the cuts were too big and he couldn't pay his staff if he wanted to pay his malpractice. I'm glad he is not around to see what has happened in the last few years. When friend of my brother or me showed interest in perusing a career in medicine my father was always hesitant to recommend that they do so. He knew they would be up to their ears in debt for a lot longer than he was. But he also knew that for those who choose to learn medicine, and toil and scrape to do so wouldn't be swayed because the system sucked. Thankfully. I hope they get this worked out, if they don't it's just one more thing that will have to be outsourced.
[Reply]
Dr. Grumpy
Sunday, 7th March 2010 at 9:25 pm
I closed my practice to new Medicare patients for 2 days, re-opened when they gave the extension, and will re-close again if nothing changes. I run a small practice with a low overhead, and under the cuts Medicare reimbursement is now less then my hourly overhead.
[Reply]
Dr. Dad Replies:
March 8th, 2010 at 6:46 pm
But didn't you know that a 21% cut in reimbursements to doctors will fix everything? We'll just ignore that fact that physician income makes up just a tiny amount of the healthcare dollars spent on Medicare. Hell, Congress doesn't care, they have their own healthcare system and insurance.
Meanwhile, our President is going to do an end-around to pass his healthcare bill, using a parliamentary tactic to allow just majority rule rather than 2/3 vote as per the constitution. His justification? "Oh, well, Bush did it once before on a tax bill."
[Reply]
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