pain patients

[Oli]

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With regards to going down the pain fellowship route, I've heard that a real negative is much of the patient popultation- that most are drug seakers and/or people with real psych issues to contend with. Can anyone tell me if this is true?😕

 

[oldandtired]

"much of the patient popultation- that most are drug seakers and/or people with real psych issues to contend with"

How is this any different from most other fields?

 

[Oli]

the difference is that a patient whose femur is put back together by an ortho surgeon after a MVC is clearly not wasting your time as a physician nor the limited resources of the hospital because he's a drug addict trying to bull**** you for another Percocet prescription. I truly hope that most patients DO NOT fit this category, but I'd appreciate a reply from anyone familiar with the patients that pain docs typically see in private practice...

 

[Oli]

thanks GasMan...no real surprise there, but I'm glad to hear that it really is a minority of patients. One more question for you- are most procedures/visits done by private practice pain docs covered by patients' insurance, or are they more out of pocket non-insurance based, like much of dermatology?