Finding Other-ness

I remember back in college where Dr. Leo Garcia first introduced Philosophy to me. One of the things that I remembered were how complex humans can be. Humans can never be dissected nor separated into compartments nor categorized into ones own stereotypes. One can never grasp the being of another, given the fact that they are Other. Their other-ness, I suppose, plays an important part in keeping beings around them on their toes.

That respect for other-ness seems to have faded in medical school. Many suffer from the 'superiority syndrome.' "I want to be at the top of MY game." "I want to beat the person beside me." "I want to prove myself." The I is such a long theme that it gets redundant and boring already. What makes things funny is putting this in contrast with the nature of the profession. How can you encourage other-ness in individuals who are self-centered? How do you teach Other-ness? Should it not be innate, since we are also Other?

The current theme in medical school is depression, heartache, hurt, pain, illness -- the things that we aim to cure and prevent. Yet, we are the first ones who do not know on how to prevent such things from happening. Is it the culture? Is it because of the nature of the profession? Is it because of the people called to this kind of field?

If one would like to consider medical school, never forget the mantra on positive thinking. Always see things with the glass half full. Admittedly, I also fail at this. At least, I am aware of it.