I was reading Peggy Noonan at The Wall Street Journal, and I wasn't sure where we, the doctors, fit in.
Democrats in the end speak most of, and seem to hold the most sympathy for, the beset-upon single mother without medical coverage for her children, and the soldier back from the war who needs more help with post-traumatic stress disorder. They express the most sympathy for the needy, the yearning, the marginalized and unwell. For those, in short, who need more help from the government, meaning from the government's treasury, meaning the money got from taxpayers...
Democrats show little expressed sympathy for those who work to make the money the government taxes to help the beset-upon mother and the soldier and the kids. They express little sympathy for the middle-aged woman who owns a small dry cleaner and employs six people and is, actually, day to day, stressed and depressed from the burden of state, local and federal taxes, and regulations, and lawsuits, and meetings with the accountant, and complaints as to insufficient or incorrect efforts to meet guidelines regarding various employee/employer rules and regulations. At Republican conventions they express sympathy for this woman, as they do for those who are entrepreneurial, who start businesses and create jobs and build things. Republicans have, that is, sympathy for taxpayers. But they don't dwell all that much, or show much expressed sympathy for, the sick mother with the uninsured kids, and the soldier with the shot nerves.
Peggy Noonan: The Master Has Arrived...
Where does the doctor fit in?? That's an easy question to answer. He dreams as a young person of becoming a physician, borrows large sums of money, mortgages a great deal of the rest of his youth and middle age. Moves to wherever he can obtain his training, maybe once twice or three times. Works at a hospital for low professional wages, takes multiple examinations, gets a medical license, which is good for only one state, joins multiple medical societies, takes board examinations, buys malpractice insurane which is good only while he pays for it (occurence), with no retroactive coverage unless he pays an additoinal surcharge....pays rent, employs a fair number of healthcare workers, puts in 14 to 16 hour days., fills out paper work, authorizations, requests for consultations,misses his family's birthdays, and other events. Is on call every third weekend or so. Deals with predatory IPAs, payors, marketing, consumer advocacy, on the average gets sued two or three times in his practice lifetime, maybe teaches a bit if he is near a medical center. Has no real economic clout to make change, gets depressed when he realizes he may never really be able to retire, has to pay lawyers, accountants, advisors, the IRS, and tells his kids don't go into medicine.
(unless he is an orthopedic surgeon, interventional radiologist or cardiologist, or cosmetic surgeon...
That's where most physicians fit in, until the world of blogging started.....
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