On Being A 'Real Doctor'

Have we created a system that is more 'careless health' rather than 'health care'?

A medical colleague of mine recently shared the below video with me that strangely struck a chord. Trust me...it's worth 4 minutes out of your life to view.

Sadly, in my opinion, there is some truth to the narrative.

Have 'real doctor's' become so out of touch with reality? Are we nothing more than mere paper pushers? Is direct patient care nothing but a faded memory?

I would argue that without a unified and experienced voice -- OUR voice -- we risk such an outcome.  The real doctors become 'Watson' like figures while everyone else shuffles electronic paperwork to keep the system afloat. While I realize this is a polarized stance, my purpose in sharing this entry is to stir and excite this health community to take action.  As I am sure it comes as no surprise to anyone on this thread, our ailing health system is plagued with inefficiencies - which only means it is equally ripe with opportunity. But who is going to answer this call-to-action? Are we to assume that our non-health professional counterparts are looking out for our best interest?  My experience tells me - not likley!

Having sat on both sides of the table, we as diversified health professionals, need to be an integral part of the conversation.  Although I am relatively new as a contributor to the group (but longtime follower) I tip my hat to the authors, members, and voices on the FreelanceMD network.  Many of you, including myself, have taken the leap out of direct clinical care to try and help fix this mess.  This is clearly a group of doers, not just talkers.  I observe that together we make up a diverse set of skills and health backgrounds that can clearly make an impact. Lets take advantage of that.

At its most vulnerable time in medical history, I argue that our health system NEEDS people like us. We are not a luxury, but a necessary voice to help spur & drive innovation in health care so that, one day, we can all be proud once again to say we are 'real doctors'.

Want to continue the conversation? Join me in my pursuits for leading health innovation!

Cheers,
Gautam

Comments

[Pamela Wible MD]

I left assembly-line medicine to become a real doctor. WoW! great article. Cool video.
Here's a video response:

http://www.youtube.com/user/pamelawible?feature=mhum#p/u/4/RQEx_xcWrEg

Thanks Gautam!

Pamela Wible MD