After graduating from medical university, a young doctor emerges from its walls with a certain amount of knowledge about a person, his diseases, the causes of their occurrence and possible methods of treatment. In this volume of information, the share of knowledge about human psychology is minimal. Issues of medical ethics and deontology are briefly considered in the first years of study and are completely forgotten by the end of the course. As a result, such a young specialist turns out to be unprepared for real life in the medical community, for adequate and “healing” contact with the patient, his relatives, and even his colleagues. Gaining experience, having learned a thing or two from his older comrades, and having learned from his own mistakes, the doctor Gradually he becomes like everyone else, “growing professionally.” But what is meant by the concept of professional growth by most doctors? This is, first of all, the accumulation of professional, highly specialized knowledge, skills in performing medical procedures and operations. Issues of personal and spiritual growth are not raised at all. On the contrary, the initially idealized idea of ​​​​one’s specialty as an opportunity to help people, save them from serious illnesses is shattered by the realities of daily work. Patients die, many of them cannot be helped, many die due to late treatment, many die from lack of money to buy needed medications and insufficient funding for hospitals. Some patients die because of mistakes made by the doctor... and these are the most difficult experiences for the doctor. Gradually, following the instinct of self-preservation, the doctor emotionally closes down. This is especially true for surgical doctors. Remaining emotionally detached from worries about the patient as a person with his own thoughts, sensations, feelings, the surgeon gains the opportunity to act calmly and clearly in the operating room, where sometimes decisions must be made instantly to change the course of the operation and carry them out without trembling in his hands. Without disconnecting from sensations and feelings, including in relation to oneself, it is almost impossible to remain effective in the operating room during a difficult, 6-8 hour operation, when a cramp grabs the forearm muscles from physical stress, and pain in the spine from a motionless and tense position becomes simply unbearable. So, gradually, from a living person, an oncologist becomes an effective robot, capable of performing surgical interventions with pinpoint precision, but losing the opportunity to be in emotional contact with the patient, colleagues, his loved ones, to sense and sense himself. Unfortunately, the patient’s remark is far from anecdotal: “I used to be a professor - a physicist, and now I have become a cholecystitis from the fifth ward...” What is the price of the personal changes that most surgeons go through? At first we try to achieve a certain status, to prove our importance. A young surgeon is ready to study, to be on duty, without leaving the clinic and without seeing the world, to treat patients for free (or for a so-called salary), to operate, to assist in operations, and the more, the better. Our medicine still rests on that period of doctors’ enthusiasm, given its meager funding and the absolute lack of state care for specialists in helping specialties. For some doctors, this period stretches for years, sometimes for their entire professional life. Only the duration and quality of this life leave much to be desired. Many of my colleagues pass away at the age of 40, 50, 60 from a heart attack or some other catastrophe, unable to continue to bear this burden of responsibility. Only timely prevention of professional burnout, the opportunity to realize one’s own spiritual needs, and contact with one’s feelings allows a surgeon maintain your own mental and physical health, as well as concern and interest in the patient. Treat the patient as a living person, with his body, his illness, his.