In ''The Last Leaf," how does the doctor feel about painting?

Johnsy, the young painter, is feeling very sick. She's laid up in bed with a particularly nasty bout of pneumonia. Johnsy's from California, so isn't used to the harsh winters of New York. Her friend Sue, deeply concerned, calls for the doctor. He examines Johnsy and unfortunately his prognosis isn't good. He gives her a one in ten chance of making it, and even that's dependent on her wanting to live. The doctor, however, has concluded that Johnsy has effectively given up the ghost; she must have something on her mind, he thinks. The doctor asks Sue what that something might be:

     "She - she wanted to paint the Bay of Naples some day" said Sue.
     "Paint? - bosh! Has she anything on her mind worth thinking twice - a man for instance?"

Clearly, the doctor's no fan of painting. He thinks that Johnsy's desire to paint the Bay of Naples is a waste of time. The doctor cannot believe that something he regards as so trivial, so unimportant could possibly be the cause of Johnsy's malaise. The only reasonable explanation he can think of is that she must be pining over a man. 
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