I was just reading a book called "Intern Blues" by Robert Marion M.D. It
is a candid chronicle of the ordeals of three young physicians during
their first year of speciality training in pediatrics. One of the
doctors, a woman, has a young baby at home. The faculty physicians are
always telling the interns to push breastfeeding whenever they can. The
young woman relates a story about speaking to new mother about
breastfeeding.

"I told her yes, it was the most important thing you could do for your
baby. And then she asked if I had breastfed my own baby and I had to say
yes for only a few weeks because I had to start my internship. And she
said something like 'You doctors are alike. Telling us to do things you
wouldn't be caught dead doing yourself.' She basically called me a
hypocrite and immediately asked for a bottle of formula....
"she hit a nerve..Here we are being told by our attendings that we should
advocate breastfeeding but there is no way I would have been able to do
it with my own baby. How can you breastfeed if you are on call every
third night and there's no place in the hospital to keep your baby while
you are working? That woman was right. It was hypocritical for me to
suggest she do something I couldn't do and it's very hypocritical for our
faculty to try and get patients to do something that's best for their
babies and not give the house staff the same opportunity. I'm pretty
angry about it."

This gives some insight into medical education. I suspect things are
still much the same at most of our finest teaching institutions.

Mary Graden LLL Idaho