Saving lives, helping the sick – for doctors, the job is often more of a vocation than a profession. But in surveys, more and more doctors are complaining about their working conditions. Is this still a dream job?
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Christina Kunkel, Stuttgart
What Ulrike Krohn reads off umpteen different values on the computer could mean the young woman in the patient’s room across the street has a chance of getting on with life. “There is a matching bone marrow donor in the database,” explains the senior physician. She says it in a matter-of-fact, matter-of-fact tone that doesn’t seem to fit the good news at first. Perhaps because she knows that the patient still has a long way to go despite this chance of recovery. But maybe also because, fortunately, it is not a rare occurrence for the computer to spit out a suitable donor.