Physicians today rarely encourage students to consider
becoming a doctor. There are quicker ways to start earning a good living.
(Petroleum Engineering and Investment Banking come to mind.) But beyond the
financial aspect, being a doctor just isn’t the same as it once was.
Increasingly, patients don’t trust doctors, much less respect them or care
whether or not they are happy.
A recent online Daily Beast article suggests the public
should have more empathy for doctors. The author notes that 300 physicians will
commit suicide this year, making it #2 on the list of the 19 jobs where you are
most likely to kill yourself, according to Business Insider.
Why? She believes well-intentioned people working to solve the healthcare crisis
have come up with answers that are “driving up costs and driving out doctors.” A
simple example: “Just processing the insurance forms costs $58 for every
patient encounter.” She also quotes noted writer Malcolm Gladwell, “You don’t
train someone for all of those years in [medicine]… and then have them run a
claims processing operation for insurance companies.”
Insurance claims, bureaucratic red tape, “quality”
metrics (that are often more about trying to successfully report than actual
quality) – all of these take away from face time with patients and chip away at
the joy of what is increasingly becoming an unrewarding profession, not only
monetarily, but emotionally.
In other words, practicing medicine has become a demeaning,
demoralizing, punitive, bureaucratic nightmare for many physicians.
Don’t get me
wrong. Most physicians make a good (or even great) living. I do, and I am not
ashamed of it. As an honor graduate from Rice University
Unfortunately, physicians
have, for decades now, not paid attention to the cost of prescribing the latest
and greatest drug when an older, cheaper generic is just as effective.
Likewise, we put expensive imaging and treatment equipment in our offices and
refused to acknowledge that there may be a conflict of interest, when studies
show we order more tests and do more procedures as a result.
On top of that, I
fear there is a growing contingency of younger physicians who see the practice
of medicine as a job only, with a corresponding (and alarming) callousness
toward the poor and uninsured.
There is hope. We have many physicians in Lufkin who have earned our respect, and I am honored
to call them colleagues. Since 2008, Drs. Ravinder Bachireddy, George Fidone, and
Kay Carter (and Mrs. Demetress Harrell) have each been recognized as Healthcare
Professional of the Year at the Lufkin/Angelina County Chamber of Commerce
Salute to Healthcare banquet. The Chamber has also honored Drs. WD Thames, Anna
Beth Connell, George Thannisch, Dan Spivey, and Jacob Thomas with Lifetime
Achievement Awards. Young physicians, who may not have gone into medicine for
the “right’ reasons – indeed, all of us – would do well to follow their
example.
Emily Shelton, the wife of my long-time partner, Dr. Bill
Shelton, gave me sage, simple advice when I first moved to Lufkin in 1992: “Just do what’s right.” A
sense of duty, compassion for the poor, cooperation with the healthcare team,
communication with patients and families, collegiality with fellow physicians,
and, of course, excellence of care are hallmarks of a great physician. That’s
what being a doctor is all about. It can still be a rewarding, respected
profession if we “just do what’s right.”
