How many times are you seeing a FM do a colonoscopy?
You must be located along the western part of the country.
I think some examples are valid, but I doubt even a FM physician who could not care less about what he/she does would improperly close a wound, but I guess there are plenty out there that would. I definitely take the extra time to explain options and my thoughts, and considerations if things do not work as expected, etc. with close follow-up and precautions. You don't have to be the best to be considered the best by your patients.
I get what you are saying, but it points to Eric's example of being a medical student who has an idealistic view of things. You have to be able to properly manage and triage effectively and efficiently patient issues and concerns within 15-20 mins, sometimes less. Especially if you are seeing a load of 8-10 in 3hrs.
PCMH = bane of my existence.
So is Medicaid. I refer a patient to a specialist and I have to attain authorization for what the specialist wants or already did. How does that make any sense? Luckily, my future practice will not be accepting Medicaid.
I also can't wait to finish residency, so I can be done with the dud MAs/LPNs I've been working with the past 2-3 months. A wonderful staff will make your life in clinic so much easier. The terrible ones make you want to pull your hair out. I had "trained" a few but unfortunately one left to pursue her RN and the other got shifted out to a different corner. I get 2 new ones, one is decent and the other is horrible. I just tell myself "few more months..." To try to move on. I still take the time for my patients and they like me (even the ones I see for acute purposes that aren't mine) but it really takes a joint effort to make things work well.
Yeah, my point was that you could be respected as a physician and great regardless of your field. The examples I gave were of Cardiologists, Gastroenterologists, Surgeons, OB/Gyns, and FM docs. I wasn't speaking about FM in general, just good doctors in general (hence my point that they exist in any field).
You've apparently not run into enough terrible doctors. I have in both personal experiences, experiences of family members (many of whom are physicians themselves), friends, and patients that were given bad information by irresponsible doctors.
I've seen some doctors do very little for their patients in some instances, and I've watched others cut corners when just a little more time would make a significant difference and would unfortunately prevent some complications (major and minor) that ultimately occurred.
And by closure I meant care when it comes to closure of an interior layer or organ (e.g. peritoneum, uterus, etc.). All docs close the outside well, but others don't necessarily close the inside effectively to minimize adhesions or aim for better structural stability. I've even watched a surgery resident complain when an actually skilled surgeon spent extra time carefully closing a peritoneum after a long surgery. The worst part is when doctors make excuses and don't even question their own actions. I know the fear of lawsuit is real, but even when they're talking to other physicians it happens.
Also, with regards to idealism, I guess it really depends on how realistic you are. I'm not particularly new to the field of medicine, hospitals, or private practices, although I may be a medical student. I'm also not as young as most of my classmates. I may come across as idealistic, but the truth is that I've watched physicians that are great, that do more than they have to, and I hope to be like that.
I don't expect even most of my hours as a physician to be good, happy, worry-free, and I expect that the
vast majority won't be, but that's pretty much true of life in general. It might only be 5 min in a day that can make a day great. I guess I fall more in the category of optimist as opposed to idealist.