That's better.
I was really up for a real conversation. I have some serious procrastinating to do. But I was turned off the idea by your response, especially the bit about spoiled pre-meds. There really was a bait-and-switch and it is legit to be annoyed by that.
But getting back to the discussion that you attempted to start:
"Physicians" is a large heterogenous group. So is "the poor." There are some docs who really dedicate themselves to the service of people who have much less material wealth. There are others who refuse to consider certain specialties for purely financial reasons. There are poor people who haven't had opportunities or the education to know how to take decent care of themselves. There are some who are able to change their situations, and there are others who may not feel inclined to do so.
What I mostly see from physicians that I know is a lot of judgment toward the poor. There is a lot of "just world" fallacy. The idea that everything will work out right for people who are virtuous and hard working enough, and so if someone isn't materially successful, that is evidence that they are flawed or at fault in some way. There is no appreciation that luck plays such an extraordinary role in all of our fates. That as much hard work as you and I have had to put into becoming who we are with the opportunities we have... we could not have done that work had we not be gifted with certain fortunate accidents of birth. We happened to be born into this time, this place, to our particular families. Educational opportunities were available, and yes, we worked hard to exploit them, but those opportunities were not universally available.
Virchow wrote that at a time when "the poor" were still mostly thought of as animals, requiring a champion from among the valuable classes. The masses have since shown themselves pretty capable of speaking for themselves. They do need physicians, though. Not only to treat sicknesses and injuries, but to educate. People really don't know how to take good care of themselves and avoid illness. We think that they do, because we do, and it is easy to believe that everyone knows what we know. But they don't. Look at the number of diet scams, homeopathic cold treatments, etc. The masses don't need physicians to be their attorneys, they need them to be their teachers and coaches. 10 minute appointments focused on single issues, and don't ask open ended questions? That is a recipe for uselessness. You want to fix health care and improve socioeconomic status for wide swaths of the population? Make doctors more able to spend time with their patients. Tincture of time really is curative, if that time is well spent.
