I once chatted with an older doctor while we were both waiting for an oil change, and his theory was that while at least 80% of people who wanted to become doctors stood a chance of having a reasonable bedside manner when they started med school, between med school and the residency they had it all beaten out of them until only 5% retained any semblance of it.
I got a California "recommendation" once, from a gentleman physician approaching his 80's. When I asked him why he chose this particular "pot doc" persona, he asked me:
>"Have you ever heard of `the elephant graveyard`?"
His defeated demeanor still haunts me, often (and this was 15+ years ago — he's likely deceased).
