This is the fifteenth #WILTW
The new series of #DoctorWho started in the UK last weekend. For those who aren’t aware, every so often the Doctor re-generates, taking on a new appearance and personality although keeping previous memories and skills. It’s a brilliant concept which in some part is the reason for the shows continued success.
(photo via copyright free site http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/doctor-who/images/37459545/title/coleman-capaldi-photo)
In this series a new doctor is with us and more time than most is spent on the doctor reflecting on his new body:
“You know I never know where the faces come from, they just pop up. It’s covered in lines. But I didn’t do the frowning… Who frowned with this face?”
For the doctor’s companion the change can be hard to take, especially when a fanciable young man is replaced by a somewhat older model. The Doctor is the same person inside and pleads at the end of the episode to be considered no different from his predecessor:
“You can’t see me can you? You look at me and you can’t see me. Have you any idea what that is like. I’m right here. Please just see me…”
So what does this have to do with healthcare I hear you ask? Well at any given moment there will be a professional somewhere adopting a new role. Maybe involving more managerial or leadership responsibility, perhaps a step up a band level, or a move off a clinical rota. Often this person will be working with their peers, perhaps in exactly the same environment, but now have a ‘hierarchical’ responsibility for them. The person they are is no different, same skills and memories, but perhaps they might have to adopt a different personality. The buck, in management terms, now stops with them. This new ‘face’ is not always an easy mantle to take on. Whereas the doctor’s face changes completely – it is easy to think of them as a different person – for us non-Gallifreyans this isn’t an option. We should remember however the doctor finds the transition just as challenging.
It is worth both the doctor, and the newly promoted staff member, contemplating at the end of the day you are still the same person. It’s the characteristics of YOU that got you into this position and that will be your greatest strength.
“Have you seen this face before? No? Are you sure? It’s funny because I’m sure that I have…”
What have you learnt this week? #WILTW
That’s a great blog Damian – and it went in a completely different direction from what I was thinking so it might be worth sharing. I was thinking of an elderly patient pleading (in his head) for the staff to see the same person, despite frailty or perhaps dementia. Or someone newly paralysed in an accident.
“You can’t see me can you? You look at me and you can’t see me. Have you any idea what that is like. I’m right here. Please just see me…”
Thanks Gill.
You are spot on – in fact a few people have commented that that phrase is so applicable to many patients we see in health services. I suspect this is an even more powerful message so thank you for highlighting!