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| High pay | 63% | 428 votes | Total: 679 votes | |
| Healing | 37% | 251 votes |
High pay
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Add to FavoritesThe doctor's life is never easy. As the population ages and more people come down with serious illnesses, the doctor has less time to see more patients. The health care system is in crisis which adds to the pressure of existing doctors to maintain care and ethical standards when dealing with their patients.
While most doctors do want to live up to the vows of the Hippocratic oath and try to do the best they can, they are forced to look after their own health and welfare.
Most professions are based on providing adequate service and good products if they are to remain in business. A financial counselor would not remain in business long if he consistently fails to handle his customer's money wisely. This holds true for many professions, except for the medical profession. Unfortunately, a doctor can't keep a practice going if he doesn't have any sick customers to attend to. Because he needs ill people, he has a vested interest in insuring that his customer get moderately healthy, but eventually return to be serviced time after time. It's the only profession that is based on sickness rather than health. Even hospitals cannot thrive unless there are patients who need drugs and surgery to stay in profit.
There was a time when doctors were not so overwhelmed that they could make house calls and were genuinely interested in seeing that their patients remained healthy. But those days of Marcus Welby, M.D. are over.
Today's society is fixed on profits and profits are more important than the health of patients. Today's doctor, as stressed as he is, is likely to be amenable for any method that can relieve his work load and provide some peace and joy. Big pharmaceutical companies see the advantage of offering the doctor a vacation, stock options and other incentives that may relieve the doctor from his burden. Of course, that means Big Pharma with its billions of dollar annual profits are quite ready to help the doctor if he pushes the latest breakthrough drugs on his patients.
It's no secret that pharmaceutical company reps regularly visit doctor's offices to leave drug samples and other offers. Often those representatives get priority billing over the lines of patients who wait hours patiently waiting to see their practitioner. The doctor, like everyone else, is human and the temptation to get a vacation to promote an unsafe drug to unsuspecting patients is too hard to ignore regardless of their oath to "do no harm".
While there are doctors such as Julian Whitaker, David Williams and others who have a genuine concern in providing the best of natural care for their patients and actively seek to expose the truth of drugs and the mad profit motive of the medical profession as it exists, they are the few exceptions.
Drugs are the doctor's best way to get patients moving into and out of his office. Unfortunately, many people have died from taking unsafe drugs prescribed by their doctors. Over 100,000 patients die in the nation's hospitals every year from taking drugs. They are under a doctor's care and take the right drug and the right doses, yet they still die from the drugs they take!
In ancient China, doctors did not get paid unless they were able to cure and make their patients well. They had an incentive to make sick people healthy. Today, it's the reverse and it is this greed for monetary gain that is draining the health care system and enhancing its ultimate collapse.
To be sure, the only safe course if you are sick is to take your health seriously and address it by yourself, rather than rely on a doctor's magic potions. We have grown too accustomed to putting faith in our doctors. Considering how busy they are and their concerns about the financial state of their own careers, everyone must become their own doctor. Everyone must address their health through a proper diet, exercise and eliminate the bad habits that are making them sick and turning them into cash cows for those few money loving doctors and medical staff who look out first for their pocketbooks.
Learn more about this author, Mario Carini.
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Healing
As a fourth year medical student, I have had the opportunity to work with over 30 different physicians spanning the last four years of my education. Every single one of those doctors showed an intense commitment to their patient's health without regard to their own pocketbooks. In the health community there is a large misconception that the only thing that motivates a doctor is money. I have heard from several patients and other members of the community about how they have felt that their doctor is ripping them off by ordering a slew of unnecessary tests in order to make a few more bucks. The truth of the matter is there is a standard of care in place and mandated guidelines that physicians must follow. Doctors do not make money from sending you for a blood test, or by referring you for a stress test, a colonoscopy, a DEXA scan, etc. When a physician offers you these services it is because there is evidence based research that states this is the appropriate course of action. By not offering a patient the appropriate tests and follow-up a physician risks losing their medical license.
In addition to the community's concern over the ordering of exams, I have also heard much debate over the salary of a doctor being overinflated. I am not going to lie; most doctors make a good living. However, what most people don't know is that it takes a good 10-15 years of commitment and hard work before you reach those salaries. First every aspiring physician must attend a 4 year college which comes with approximately a $30,000 price tag. Then comes 4 years of medical school, which is extremely intense. During the first two years you spend eight hours a day in the classroom, and 10 hours each weekend day in the library preparing for exams. All free time is replaced with studying, making a personal life a luxury. The last two years of medical school are spent working in clinics and hospitals for free. Therefore, by law, medical students can work up to 80 hours a week for 2 years without pay. All in all, at the end of eight years of schooling, all you have to show is $200,000-350,000 worth of student loan debt, new undereye circles, and a diploma. Then residency begins, which is the next step on my career path. Basically the hospital you work for owns you for the next 3-5 years at $45,000 (on average) before taxes. Trust me when I say that if you are out to just make money, there are much easier and more lucrative ways to do so. Not to mention, I have a hard time understanding how society justifies the millions of dollars athletes and entertainers make, but begrudges $130,000 a year to people with 10 years of training to save lives.
That being said, I can understand how a patient with economic hardship might have hard feelings towards their doctor and feel that we are trying to take away their hard earned money. After all the tests we order are unfortunately not free or cheap, and neither are pharmaceutical medications. It's a tightrope walk for physicians; in order to maximize and manage health it is sometimes necessary to order tests or imaging studies, however, at the same time we do not want to create financial turmoil for our patients. Every doctor I have worked with has always started by attempting to use the most cost effective tools at hand for diagnosis and management. I harp on patients daily about dietary changes and exercise. I don't say these things because I like to hear myself talk, I lecture about them because they have been proven to help cholesterol, hypertension, and diabetes and other effects of obesity. Walking is free, and cutting down on food portion sizes will also cut down on grocery bills. It also can prevent me from having to write 3-4 prescription medications that can take a chunk of cash out of monthly budgets for families. If however, a patient does require medications; most doctors are able to tell you which pharmacies offer the cheapest prices.
Physicians really are on the side of their patients. Every time I walk into a patient's room, my goal is to improve their health and quality of life. I sympathize with my patients who are in dire financial straits and try to keep the cost of healthcare as low as possible; however at the same time I have to do my job. Unfortunately sometimes doing my job makes me the bad guy because I have to recommend medications or tests. Physicians also can't waive their fees for patients because besides our own families that need to be supported, there is also the cost of running an office and the salaries of the staff. waiving office visit fees can also be considered insurance fraud in some cases.
I do not know any of my fellow medical students or doctors that I have worked with who have gone into this profession with anything but honorable intentions to help serve the community. It is unfortunate that the misconception exists that physicians are just out to make money because it often creates a discord in doctor-patient relationships. I hope that the future of healthcare can help to erase this notion so that doctors and patients can work together towards their common goal...healing and health.
Learn more about this author, Jessica Lofgren.
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