By JIM PURCELL
In 1729, a bold and innovative thinker named The Very Reverend Jonathan Swift made “A Modest Proposal,” the subtitle of which was “For Preventing The Children of Poor People in Ireland From Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and For Making Them Beneficial to The Public.” One more thoughtful suggestion by Sir Jonathan was that Irish children, if prepared properly, made fine eating, having been assured by a “very knowing American…acquaintance” that at a year old, they are delicious, “whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled.”
While that suggestion never did catch on, it did represent a different insight as to a possible solution to a seemingly intractable problem, and it provoked quite a discussion. We have a new such problem, and it has to do with physicians. Today’s physicians, in their quiet moments, usually admit that their profession and they are in deep trouble. Physicians too often work too hard for too little; they spend too little time on what they consider to be the “practice” of medicine; they believe they are disrespected by hospitals and insurers; primary care docs envy specialists; specialists despise hospitals; and worst, they just flat do not like their day jobs to the point that there is rampant burnout, anger, and depression. Not quite Marcus Welby.
It starts after med school, if not during. The plight of newly “minted” physicians is dire. Unless they come from families of wealth or get some miraculous form of a free ride, they end their education and training with debt often exceeding $200,000. And given the length of time it takes for them to start making decent income, they will have lost at least 8 years of saving and investing, plus the time they need to pay that debt back. They also have to purchase exorbitantly priced malpractice insurance. Meanwhile they do things like get married, have children, and buy houses and cars, like many other professionals. Their plight is well described in a recent article which should cause even the most idealistic young man or woman to think twice before entering medicine. The burnout and depression statistics of practicing physicians today are astounding.
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