The episode with the female SpR (Specialist Registrar, the grade just below Consultant) was excellent in its moral complexity, and rang true on a medical level, too. It examined the cliche of the Woman In Medicine - the archetypal woman who has clawed her way up the (still, outside General Practice, moderately male-dominated) career ladder, and become hardened/dehumanised as a result.
In this particular case, the argument was advanced that, in order to succeed in Hospital Medicine, the individual in question had to be a) twice as intelligent as her male counterparts, b) twice as ruthless, and c) unable to 'compromise' in terms of the usual medical survival mechanism, blackly cynical humour. She wouldn't or couldn't join in the (admittedly 'laddish') banter at the patient's bedside - and the male medical team were merciless in their group retaliation, attacking her gender and (perceived?) sexuality.
Given the chance of allying with the nurses (who, in No Angels operate along exaggeratedly all-female lines), she blew it by becoming paranoid and snubbing/alienating Anji, who had seen her cry.
Moral: if you can't pick any allies, you're gonna go down.
I liked the way this plotline was interwoven with the theme of making (bittersweet or downright wrong) career choices based on what is expected of one by others; this is a real biggie amongst doctors (many of whom seem, by their own accounts, to have inherited the condition via Mendelian genetics), and it struck a chord.
Looking forward to this week's: I agree, though, Gold Blend Bloke is gonna let Beth down... |
