Rationing the milk of human kindness: the fable of The Dun Cow.

Abstract

There is an old English fable that describes a period of drought. In the midst of famine a mysterious lady arrives leading a giant cow. She instructs the villagers that the cow will fill any single pail, no matter the size, with milk, on a daily basis. The cow was able to provide a seemingly limitless supply of milk until one day when someone brought an unfillable bucket full of holes and sat down to milk the cow. The milk gushed into the bucket but ran away through the holes. As the last milk was drained the cow’s hide had become dull, clinging to the curves of her famished ribs. In great distress the maddened Dun Cow ran far away over the hills and was never seen again.1 In times of need health professionals have always given their time freely. Doctors donate significant time to the health system through pro bono work, usually in the form of administrative tasks undertaken after hours or as extra clinical time for our vulnerable patients. Our hospitals run on …