Above: Craig Ferguson on his February 20, 2007 Telecast.
"IT'S A GREAT DAY FOR AMERICA."
... is exactly the way Craig Ferguson starts every single monologue.
There was a lot of hustle and bustle going on with late night TV shows at the time I wrote this entry (such as O'Brien overtaking Leno on The Tonight Show to Letterman's feud over sexual relations), but it reminded me to get connected again to one of the late night show hosts who gets my profound respect, and that's Mr. Craig Ferguson. I knew him from his previous stint on The Drew Carey Show as Carey's boss (his catchphrase: Carey, You're Fired!), but when he stepped up to The Late Late Show, I became a huge fan of his. What's most striking to me about him is how down-to-earth he is to his audience. Hence, when he has to strike up a serious point, he hits a home run, such as in his clip above.
In the monologue I attached, Ferguson tells the audience a few stories of his old alcoholic days and after a turning point, he turned sober... and has stayed that way for fifteen years. However, what got my mind thinking was his perspective on what the concept of an alcoholic really is, referring to the issue as "a thinking problem" and saying it doesn't end when counseling is over. In med school, we learn about the numerous effects of alcohol. Contrary to what many of us learned probably in middle school health class - it does much more than just damage the brain, with various systemic side effects like nutritional deficiencies, anemias, even liver damage (that itself opening up a potload of other effects). As doctors it would seem easy for us to use health-scare tactics say to other alcoholics, "Let's not have this happen to you. Don't drink." Ferguson says there's much more to that.
To me, it reminds me that no matter how much knowledge we have about the human body, it can only go so far. As doctors, we need to utilize our communication skills and our ability to build rapport with our patients to take care of their spirit. Body and mind do go together. We just can't forget about the latter, even though our minds are crammed with information from the former.
And with that, cheers to Mr. Ferguson for keeping his thinking straight for such a long time. With that accomplishment, I think, to him, every day that comes is a great one.
Awesome post. I originally was hesitant to watch that video because I saw that it was 12 minutes long. After clicking it though, he completely captured my attention and the 12 minutes went by painlessly and with a lot of fun. (And I must say, that accent definitely hooked me immediately).
ReplyDeleteOn the more debatable topic, do you believe then, that it is a doctor's job, or that it should be a doctor's own personal will to cure more than simply what is currently wrong with the patient?
Or what exactly do you mean by being able to take care of a patient's spirit? Merely to calm it, or help cure it?
Craig Ferguson did point out that the only thing that truly helped him, was being able to talk to someone who has gone through the same thing as he.
How far then, would you say an average doctor (that hasn't been where a patient has been) should go as far as experience to be able to calm a person's spirit... or even cure it?
Or should doctors be the people who cure the physical and leave the curing of the spirit to those who can truly relate (which, keep in mind, does not exclude a doctor who ACTUALLY CAN relate)?