The main character is told upon accepting his new job that the sooner he learns to stop caring about patients, the easier life will be. He scoffs, never to be among those who become desensitized. The remainder of the movie is his slow decent into habitual sociopathic 'sick care' without compunction, juxtaposed by his ironically beginning to appreciate the little things, now that he has learned to shed the stress of standing up for principle, arguing for what is right, going against the grain, 'caring', etc.