The unwritten code of healthcare is that doctors don’t strike. Until now | Ranjana Srivastava

Public hospital doctors in Australia ’s priciest state, New South Wales , went on a three-day strike to protest pay and working conditions.

The government has so far rejected their call to be guaranteed a minimum 10-hour break between shifts.

It takes up to eight years of university to qualify as a doctor, depending on whether the medical degree is an undergraduate or postgraduate undertaking.

Private practice is far more lucrative (although with its own headaches).

There has never been a greater need for a strong public hospital system that attracts the best doctors.

By condemning public hospital doctors for wanting better pay and conditions to help their patients, the costliest move might turn out to be an own goal.

Ranjana Srivastava is an Australian oncologist and Fulbright scholar.