This one is more self-directed musings than anything else. I'm going to make up a story...it's not meant to be real so if you want to read this please roll with it. :) I'll explain a bit more in the follow-up post. Again, may be a bit dry and technical so feel free to skip it as well. (please assume the genders can be male or female, I'm just sticking with male because it's easier than right s/he or mother/father all the time).
Once, there was a doctor...and he worked in a small village. He set broken bones, helped deal with fevers and other illnesses, helped prevent wounds from getting infected, offered vaccinations to all the children on the first day of school, and overall saved many of their lives. The villagers were grateful, so they provided food and shelter. They started to call him the Surgeon General.
The Surgeon General had a child, who grew up in his father's footsteps. Learned how to treat patients at a young age. Benefited by the time he was able to spend studying, instead of working in the fields like other children in the village. When his father passed away, he took over and became a new Surgeon General.
What started out as just a way to get things done soon became bound with tradition. History. Now the entire village celebrated Immunization Day, the day all children received their immunizations before starting school. And the Surgeon General was also responsible for The Washing...a ceremony conducted before treating anyone, where any tools to be used were cleaned, any open wounds were swabbed down with alcohol, etc.
The Surgeon General remained hereditory, though some were better doctors than others. Once, another doctor came to the village...better than the Surgeon General at that time. This doctor tried persuading the villagers to get rid of the old Surgeon General and make him the new one. This caused a lot of tension in the village, a few tavern brawls. They called this time the Big Brawl. When all was said and done, most of the villagers swore they never wanted to see such fighting again.
I already said some Surgeon Generals were better than others. Some didn't even like being doctors. But they had good status within the village, didn't have to work in the fields...and being a doctor was all they knew. They grew up learning the trade, and didn't learn much of anything else. Eventually, one of the Surgeon Generals disliked being a doctor so much that he hired an assistant to do the real work. The Surgeon General would get squeamish at the sight of blood, didn't like being close to people who were sick, etc. He still ran Immunization Day and did The Washing, but the Physician's Assistant did most of the stitching, bone setting, surgeries, etc.
And this caused some problems. Oh, some PA's were happy to do the work. But others realized that they were doing all the work, while the Surgeon General got all the benefits. But what to do? Most didn't want another Big Brawl.
At this point in my analogy, things can go any number of ways. The PA might successfully stage a coup, and become the new Surgeon General. The PA might continue to serve, and serve well, but the Surgeon General may eventually pass away without a clear heir...and the villagers may select the PA as the new Surgeon General. Or the PA could fed up and just leave...and someone else, someone who knows how to doctor and is happy with the status and benefits of being the PA, will take on that role.
Once, there was a doctor...and he worked in a small village. He set broken bones, helped deal with fevers and other illnesses, helped prevent wounds from getting infected, offered vaccinations to all the children on the first day of school, and overall saved many of their lives. The villagers were grateful, so they provided food and shelter. They started to call him the Surgeon General.
The Surgeon General had a child, who grew up in his father's footsteps. Learned how to treat patients at a young age. Benefited by the time he was able to spend studying, instead of working in the fields like other children in the village. When his father passed away, he took over and became a new Surgeon General.
What started out as just a way to get things done soon became bound with tradition. History. Now the entire village celebrated Immunization Day, the day all children received their immunizations before starting school. And the Surgeon General was also responsible for The Washing...a ceremony conducted before treating anyone, where any tools to be used were cleaned, any open wounds were swabbed down with alcohol, etc.
The Surgeon General remained hereditory, though some were better doctors than others. Once, another doctor came to the village...better than the Surgeon General at that time. This doctor tried persuading the villagers to get rid of the old Surgeon General and make him the new one. This caused a lot of tension in the village, a few tavern brawls. They called this time the Big Brawl. When all was said and done, most of the villagers swore they never wanted to see such fighting again.
I already said some Surgeon Generals were better than others. Some didn't even like being doctors. But they had good status within the village, didn't have to work in the fields...and being a doctor was all they knew. They grew up learning the trade, and didn't learn much of anything else. Eventually, one of the Surgeon Generals disliked being a doctor so much that he hired an assistant to do the real work. The Surgeon General would get squeamish at the sight of blood, didn't like being close to people who were sick, etc. He still ran Immunization Day and did The Washing, but the Physician's Assistant did most of the stitching, bone setting, surgeries, etc.
And this caused some problems. Oh, some PA's were happy to do the work. But others realized that they were doing all the work, while the Surgeon General got all the benefits. But what to do? Most didn't want another Big Brawl.
At this point in my analogy, things can go any number of ways. The PA might successfully stage a coup, and become the new Surgeon General. The PA might continue to serve, and serve well, but the Surgeon General may eventually pass away without a clear heir...and the villagers may select the PA as the new Surgeon General. Or the PA could fed up and just leave...and someone else, someone who knows how to doctor and is happy with the status and benefits of being the PA, will take on that role.
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