Wit- Responsibility Of Doctors Towards Patients

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The play revolves around the character Dr. Vivian Bearing as she recollects events from her past and learns about her life. As a professor at the university, Dr. Vivian Bearing was a demanding and an uncompromising person. She rejects a request for an extension by one of her students, whose grandmother had passed away showing she possessed no sort of compassion in her. Dr. Vivian Bearing later through the treatment process learns that she did not understand the point of her life and hid behind her work as an excuse to it; towards the end of the play she feels lonely and seeks compassion that was missing throughout her life. An Interesting observation from the play is the relationship between the doctors and the patient as Dr. Vivian Bearing is undergoing her treatment process. The play also highlights some of the responsibilities of the doctors and hospital staff towards the patient. Dr. Harvey Kelekian and Dr. Jason Posner show little or no compassion towards Vivian and treat her as a research subject, while Vivian’s primary nurse Susie Monahan shows interest in her patient and tries to comfort her during the treatment process by being compassionate and caring. Various instances from the play highlight the attitude of the doctors and hospital staff towards the patient. When Dr. Harvey Kelekian breaks out to Vivian that she has been diagnosed with cancer, he assumes that since Vivian is an English professor, she would know medical terms too and goes on to explain her situation to her in high level medical terms, instead of explaining it to her in a simple and kind manner. Although she understands what Dr. Harvey Kelekian was trying to tell her, it just makes it harder for her to digest that she has been diagnosed with cancer. Dr. Jason Posner, a former student of Vivian at the university shows little humanity towards her. During the Grand rounds, Dr. Kelekian and
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