Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

The two doctors

In the crowded center of an ancient city with churches and minarets, with fragrant spices and fluttering chickens for sale, there practiced two friends who finished medical school in the same year. The one who had graduated at the bottom of the class had a huge practice. The one who came first had very few patients, so he went to see his friend to find out the secret of his success.

His friend took him to the top of the building, to a terrace overlooking the bustling square, and asked him how many people down there he would estimate were truly intelligent.

“About twenty,” said the man who had been struggling in his practice for several years.

“Well,” said his successful friend, “I guess those twenty come to you, the others come to me.”

Photo by Stephen Codrington. From Planet Geography 3rd Edition. Via Wikimedia. CC BY 2.5.

Spring 2021

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