Early physicians utilised the knowledge in medicine to provide a diagnosis, a prognosis, and hopefully a cure. But at present times, we can observe the medical field inching towards commercialisation. Television programmes and advertisments constantly portray the eye-catching results of medical intervention. Media is shaping the definition of the "perfect body", and medicine, has simply ride along this trend for a profit.
Medicine can be privatised into a lucrative business. Some are willing to 'invest' into their physical appearance through cosmetic surgery, while parents may depend on pediatrics to ensure their children are in the pink of health. Medicine was intended to treat illnesses and alleviate suffering from diseases, but whether facial differences or mental conditions are considered as a 'disease' is personal definition. Still, even if we think of it as being superficial or simply exploitation, commercialisation is a necessary evil that will be sure to stay, and even grow in this age of fast paced development of medical science.
However, our understanding of these 'condemned' specialisations are tainted by the way media depicts them. Though the commercialisation of these delicate specialisations are very real, we need to remember that there are two sides of a fence. For example, a patient who suffered 3rd degree burns on her face would be deeply scarred emotionally. Our face is our identity, our pride, and this patient had lost her's. And in this case, surgical intervention enables a physician to restore her dignity, to help her regain the strength to move on.
Ultimately, it is how we as individuals want to perceive this issue. In a career that enables us to redefine a person, there would certainly be the ugly side of it. But i would choose to see it as a necessary evil, which shy in comparison to the beauty of helping people get back to their normal lives.
