Are doctors public servants?

[IlDestriero]

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Society can keep their resources. I never asked for them. Medicine only has so many societal resources being provided to it specifically because Medicare and Medicaid exist- back in the day, when these weren't a thing, health care was actually very much affordable. Physicians also made substantially less, but the physician-patient relationship was intact and massive government overreach really wasn't a thing. I'd take less money for less government involvement any day- I'm no one's servant, I'm a person who does good because I choose to, which I believe is the better way to approach things, since one cannot be forced to be good by the government, only to act good. The movement on behalf of socialized medicine seeks to usurp the free will of physicians, to force them to do as society wants rather than act as they choose, which I believe to be a gross violation of physician rights and autonomy without any change in our high degree of responsibility and liability.

Get out of here with that evil sociopathic doubletalk mad jack!


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Il Destriero

 

[Lucca]

Society can keep their resources. I never asked for them. Medicine only has so many societal resources being provided to it specifically because Medicare and Medicaid exist- back in the day, when these weren't a thing, health care was actually very much affordable. Physicians also made substantially less, but the physician-patient relationship was intact and massive government overreach really wasn't a thing. I'd take less money for less government involvement any day- I'm no one's servant, I'm a person who does good because I choose to, which I believe is the better way to approach things, since one cannot be forced to be good by the government, only to act good. The movement on behalf of socialized medicine seeks to usurp the free will of physicians, to force them to do as society wants rather than act as they choose, which I believe to be a gross violation of physician rights and autonomy without any change in our high degree of responsibility and liability.

I don't think you can make the claim that healthcare was affordable because medicare and medicaid didnt exist. It ignores the rising expenses across all aspects of medicine, from technology to drugs, new surgical techniques, the ability to prolong life and care capable of turning previously mortal diseases into chronic ones which can be managed.

 

[LizzyM]

Let me repeat. In America, some physicians are public servants. They are paid by city, county, state or federal tax dollars directly, as in they get a paycheck from the federal government or some other government agency. In most cases (armed services scholarships being an exception to the rule) they did pay for their own education but so do most police officers, K-12 teachers, and other public servants who work for government.

That said, with the exception of the draft (which hasn't been used in decades) no one can conscript you to work as a public servant. You are free to work in the private sector.

On the aside of health care costs, I do think that the idea of pooling funds for health insurance and the use of taxpayer funds to pay for the medical care of the elderly, destitute and disabled has been an engine that has driven innovation and driven up costs. If there was no one who could afford to pay the cost of a heart valve out of pocket, there was little point in developing such a thing. With a third party to pay the bill, and for many years, an endless spigot of money, the incentives were there to develop new treatments, me-to drugs, and to "do everything". It has been both good and bad for society and for patients and very good for those who made fortunes from these innovations.

 

[ChrisMack390]

To add one more viewpoint, I would not classify physicians as being public servants. Rather, I think it would be more accurate to describe us as being members of a profession that serves public interests.

Resume brawlin'.

Public servant.
Profession that serves the public.

I'm not really seeing the difference?

 

[el_duderino]

Public servant.
Profession that serves the public.

I'm not really seeing the difference?

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/public servant

Full Definition of public servant

1. : a government official or employee
   

 

[Mad Jack]

Public servant.
Profession that serves the public.

I'm not really seeing the difference?

There's a big difference.

Community service: voluntary service to one's community.
Public service: government employed position that serves one's government.

 

[medic86]

Public servant.
Profession that serves the public.

I'm not really seeing the difference?

Are you being willfully obtuse?

 

[ChrisMack390]

I suppose I do "see" the difference, but it is very much just semantics.

 

[el_duderino]

I suppose I do "see" the difference, but it is very much just semantics.

It seems like semantics until you have a real job in a major industry that interfaces in some way with the government. Then you will hear the words "public servant" and "public sector" and "public service" every single day, and it always refers specifically to government employment.

Public service absolutely does not mean community involvement, volunteer work, having a sense of civic duty, or anything like that. Public service means government employment.

 

[dpmd]

I wouldn't use public service for the reasons stated above with it meaning government employee. Since you don't want to repeat the phrase community service perhaps you can discuss your desire to work with the underserved population (something I discussed in my personal statement that helped get me selected for a 20k per year scholarship)