-
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Veterinarians Are Killing2 Themselves. An Online Group Is There To Listen And Help
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
We're going to bring you another report about the rising rate of suicide in the United States. Caution; parts of this story may be disturbing. Dr. Carrie Jurney is a veterinary neurologist in San Jose, Calif., who's on the board of a group called Not One More Vet1.
CARRIE JURNEY: I would tell people, well, I work on mental wellness and suicide in vets3. And they're like, oh, veterans, you know, naturally. And I'm like, no, veterinarians.
SIMON: The Centers for Disease Control says veterinarians are more than twice as likely to die by suicide than the general population. Female vets, who now make up more than half the profession, have an even higher risk.
JURNEY: It's really shocking. I had 86 people in my vet school class, graduating class of 2005. Three of them are gone, died by their own hand.
SIMON: We joined Dr. Jurney for a long day at her office.
JURNEY: You know, we fight death for a living. We don't always get to win.
SIMON: There were dogs...
JURNEY: Hi, there, precious.
SIMON: ...Beeps, needles and blood...
JURNEY: I know. We got to go get blood on you. I know, Coco. I know. Don't bite me. That's not nice.
SIMON: ...As well as surprises small...
JURNEY: We just had a c-section in the back, so there are a bunch of brand new baby puppies in the world right now.
SIMON: Are those puppies?
JURNEY: Those are brand new Frenchies. Come on - yeah.
SIMON: ...As four fuzzy, newborn French bulldog puppies napping in towels.
JURNEY: So there are some perks4 to the job, you know?
SIMON: And as large as Reuben (ph).
JURNEY: So we've got an emergency case here. It's an 8-year-old Rottie who all of a sudden can't walk.
SIMON: One-hundred-and-thirteen-pound pumpernickel brown Rottweiler that a couple wheeled into Dr. Jurney in a cart.
JURNEY: So this came on all of a sudden. Last night, we were fine, and then we weren't fine. OK, no trauma5.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Yeah, we became not fine about bedtime. It was like midnight.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: No, he woke me up - right.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Usually, you wake him up and - come on, let's go up the stairs. And he's never that (unintelligible) dog. All right, go on. Go up the stairs, go to bed. Couldn't get up.
SIMON: Dr. Jurney and staff have to put their arms around Reuben to lift him up to be examined.
JURNEY: Lift with your knees, kids.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Lift with your knees and (unintelligible).
JURNEY: OK. One, two, three. Go. All right.
SIMON: The big, brown dog's eyes seem to grow wide and bewildered.
JURNEY: I always say one of the great ironies6 of my career is I got into this because I love animals so much. There are not a lot of animals that are ever excited to see me anymore (laughter), you know? They're often in pain and scared. And then we're doing weird7 things that they didn't get to consent to. And it can be a - you know, especially in an emergency hospital like ours, you know, there's not a lot of choice. We still have to get it done.
SIMON: We're able to speak with Dr. Jurney between patients about the stresses of being a vet. Many have financial pressures to pay off student loans while they try to run a veterinary practice. A typical salary for a veterinarian in the United States is $93,000 a year, which is rewarding but less than half the average salary of physicians and surgeons. And there is the unique emotional strain of their work.
JURNEY: Not everybody deals with disease and disability and death on a daily basis. And, you know, it is our average Monday morning here. And it's a very isolating8 profession. A lot of veterinarians practice alone. Sometimes you're the only veterinarian for 300 miles, which means it's hard to take time off.
NICOLE MCARTHUR: I think a lot of us are introverted, quite introverted.
SIMON: Dr. Nicole McArthur of Rockland, Calif. is the founder9 of Not One More Vet.
MCARTHUR: We're drawn10 to animals. And then having to do a job where we are working with people - you know, the animals don't drive themselves here. They don't pay the bills.
SIMON: It's people who love their pets. They can be upset if a vet has to tell them their dog or cat is sick and needs treatment or get angry if no treatment will help. Both doctors say veterinarians they know have been targets of trolling and threats from pet owners and even strangers.
MCARTHUR: If somebody gets mad, they get online. And then when you have somebody like my fur baby is - this person did something wrong. And, you know, we'll have people from across the world get online and say, well, they need to lose their license11.
SIMON: And veterinarians, unlike medical doctors, are often asked to end a patient's suffering. Even as they know it's best for a pet, it's painful for the families who love them and for the vet who cares for them. That emotional stress has caused Nicole McArthur to quit and then return to her profession twice.
MCARTHUR: Yeah, I had a day that I was working emergency, and I had three euthanasias - three within a 30-minute time span. And they were all, like, very emotional and very - one, I thought I was going to have to call on a welfare check to have police go make sure this person was OK. And yeah, I walked out. I was like, that's it. I'm done.
SIMON: And, of course, veterinarians have the means to take life in their own offices.
MCARTHUR: In our line of work, we see a patient who's suffering, and there's no end in sight, there's no hope. And so euthanasia is a very viable12 option. And so it's not a big leap to say, you know, I'm a veterinarian who has chronic13 pain, and I have chronic depression. And there - you know, my clinic is underwater. And this is a kind death that we can give ourselves. I get it. I totally get it. I've been there. So...
SIMON: Their group, Not One More Vet, tries to give veterinarians online support for the stresses of their work. Any given day in a veterinary clinic can swing between scenes of elation14 and anxiety.
MCARTHUR: I'm going to go check on Reuben and see where we're going - how we're doing.
SIMON: Reuben, the huge Rottweiler who suddenly can't walk, has an MRI, which is daunting15 for a 113-pound dog who flops16 like a sack of cement when you move him.
MCARTHUR: Reuben is almost too big for the MRI, but they got him in (laughter). It's a big boy.
SIMON: But the images show knots on his spine17. Dr. Jurney orders immediate18 surgery.
JURNEY: Going to take a peek19 at that last scan, and then we'll move our big boy out and then start the process of his very unattractive surgical20 haircut and go from there.
SIMON: She has to slice through Reuben's leathery flesh and muscle.
JURNEY: So this is the drill that we will use to take off the bone on Reuben's spine so we can see his spinal21 cord and what's pressing on it.
(SOUNDBITE OF DRILL DRILLING)
SIMON: Through a mist of bone and blood, Dr. Jurney sees small bits in Reuben's spine that have hardened around his nerves.
JURNEY: That's what we had to get out. So his spinal cord's only about that big. So something that big actually compresses it quite a good deal. So...
SIMON: And that's like desiccated parts of his spine.
JURNEY: Yeah, so it's the middle. And it's supposed to be squishy. And it is not squishy anymore. So we'll see if we can get any more pieces out like that. But that makes me feel better about Reuben.
SIMON: The surgery takes more than an hour - lots of blood, bone and hot, bright lights. But Carrie Jurney smiles as she slips down her surgical mask to phone the couple she calls Reuben's dads.
JURNEY: Hi, it's Dr. Jurney calling. We're all done. Your baby's waking up. They were chronic discs, so those have been there for a while...
SIMON: A long day in which we'd glimpse some of the stressors that can figure into suicides among veterinarians had ended with a triumph.
JURNEY: ...So we made things way, way better than when we started. So I think we did what we needed to do tonight.
SIMON: A gifted team of nurses and surgeons had helped a big, beloved dog walk again and brought joy to the couple who loved him.
Dr. Jurney could go home happy.
JURNEY: All right, my friend, well, I am going to get your baby tucked in. And then I will call you in the morning, OK? Talk to you then. OK, bye-bye. All righty.
SIMON: But a few days after Reuben's surgery, I got this message from Dr. Carrie Jurney. Hey, Scott. I thought I should let you know we lost Reuben today. I have to be honest; this is gut-wrenching. You came to us to see why the job is hard, and there is no better example than this. I am devastated22. I've cried because my mind is with Reuben and his poor owners. Even though I know I did everything I could for him, I still wonder if I could have done more.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SIMON: And if you are troubled by thoughts of suicide, there is help. The number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. You're listening to WEEKEND EDITION from NPR New.
收听单词发音 |
1
vet
|
|
| n.兽医，退役军人；vt.检查 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
killing
|
|
| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
vets
|
|
| abbr.veterans （复数）老手，退伍军人；veterinaries （复数）兽医n.兽医( vet的名词复数 )；老兵；退伍军人；兽医诊所v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的第三人称单数 )；调查；检查；诊疗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
perks
|
|
| 额外津贴，附带福利，外快( perk的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
trauma
|
|
| n.外伤，精神创伤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
ironies
|
|
| n.反语( irony的名词复数 )；冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事；嘲弄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
weird
|
|
| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
isolating
|
|
| adj.孤立的，绝缘的v.使隔离( isolate的现在分词 )；将…剔出（以便看清和单独处理）；使（某物质、细胞等）分离；使离析 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
Founder
|
|
| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
license
|
|
| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
viable
|
|
| adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
chronic
|
|
| adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
elation
|
|
| n.兴高采烈，洋洋得意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
daunting
|
|
| adj.使人畏缩的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
flops
|
|
| n.失败( flop的名词复数 )v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的第三人称单数 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
spine
|
|
| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
immediate
|
|
| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
peek
|
|
| vi.偷看，窥视；n.偷偷的一看，一瞥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
surgical
|
|
| adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
spinal
|
|
| adj.针的，尖刺的，尖刺状突起的；adj.脊骨的，脊髓的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
devastated
|
|
| v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
购买
在百度中搜索