Oh, I understand that is not what you were suggesting you are correct there is a continuum in that field just like in every field and profession. However, I was not expecting a heart surgeon to share so much with me the way I had experienced that day. I think even in the professional health field it can be a challenge because of that continuum.

I don't think I could have it in me to open up another person and hold their heart and life in my hands. I guess I was surprised he would be having that kind of struggle and just needed to have someone to help him grieve what must have been very hard for him to see happen to his mother.

My aunt was a nurse for many years. After she was retired a few years and came to visit I was talking to her and she said that she had not realized how cold and robotic she had become over the years until she retired and was away from it all. I think sometimes in the medical field you see so much you can become desensitized.

desensititize:
make (someone) less likely to feel shock or distress at scenes of cruelty, violence, or suffering by overexposure to such images.

It could be that a person isn't lacking empathy but has seen so much they have been desensitized.