How Being a Doctor Became the Most Miserable Profession
By the end of this year, it’s estimated that 300 physicians will commit suicide. While depression amongst physicians is not new—a few years back, it was named the second-most suicidal occupation—the level of sheer unhappiness amongst physicians is on the rise.
It’s hard for anyone outside the profession to understand just how rotten the job has become—and what bad news that is for America’s health care system. Perhaps that’s why author Malcolm Gladwell recently implied that to fix the healthcare crisis, the public needs to understand what it’s like to be a physician. Imagine, for things to get better for patients, they need to empathize with physicians—that’s a tall order in our noxious and decidedly un-empathetic times.
Maybe those rude, inconsiderate, obnoxious pts .. are not just that way with us 🙁 Maybe they are worse when they get to us.. because the doc didn’t give them a GIFT CARD ?
Filed under: General Problems
Chronic pain patient and my doctor who is also my primary and a proper pain specialist is going through hell too. It’s made him apathetic to the pain patients are in since he is scared. When getting injections, I’m a captive audience and one of the better educated patients he sees.
The *new* thing in Florida is to send pain patients to a psychiatrist for med management of chronic anxiety because pharmacists are “concerned” that pain meds are often prescribed with a benzo. I’m lucky, my pharmacy is very good and the staff treat me well. I asked them about it – she said “well we always see those together…ya know?” [now no one complains about SSRIs being prescribed by a pain/primary doc, do they? NOPE]
So I explained to her that chronic pain and chronic anxiety go hand in hand. Why? Well a few reasons, a) the anxiety is connected to the illness directly. B) the anxiety is connected to the cause – ie a car accident or C) the medications to treat pain can cause anxiety. My pharmacist gave me a sheepish look and said “I hadn’t thought of that…you make some good points”
Now imagine how beat up my doctor is right now having to send patients to another doc for one med and since medicare advantage plans pay little my out of pocket for the psychiatrist is…200$ then 60$ after.
Coupled with the other demands, patients unable to fill scripts [9-10 per day] and just trying to stay ahead of the DEA and their uneven application of the law? No surprise that they are depressed and that doesn’t even begin to address the cost of malpractice insurance OR student loans.
I would bet that RPH’s education about chronic pain was:
opiates can cause dry eyes, constipation, suppressed respiration.. and it is ADDICTING..
Thank you “consumerism movement”