Family Practice as acareer choice
Choffmanmd
interested in Family medicine. Some topics for discussion follow:
1) Why don't more students consider family practice as a career?
2) Do the top rated (Harvard, Hopkins, etc.) schools actively discourage
family medicine?
3) What exactly do most students want from their career in medicine?
4) What have you been hearing about family practice at your school?
I am a family physician faculty of a community-based residency in
Birmingham, AL. Reply here or to me directly CHoff...@aol.com.
Your Name Here
(Choffmanmd) wrote:
I am going to be starting med school next year and I am considering Family
Medicine. I would hope that Harvard doesn't discourage family medicine.
This country needs good family medical doctors... don't you think?
BSDO2B2
Univ. College of Osteopathic Medicine and the only specialty that holds
any interest for me is Family Medicine.
I am the mother of 5 children,(yes I have my own family practice already)
a decieded to go back to medical school 10 yrs after getting my BS. I was
a Pre-med all those years ago but I was also only 19 when I graduated. I
decieded that I wasn't ready for medical school. The thing that finally
got me to go back was loosing my job as a chemist during the recession a
few years ago and not being able to find a job. I even tried McDonalds
but they said I was over qualified. I ended up on welfar, so I could get
health care for my kids. They gave me a nice MEDICAID Card, but couldn't
find anyone to accept it except the hospital ER. I decieded that this was
ridiculous. I could easily go back to school, get my medical degree and,
maybe not save the world, but atleast be more understanding to my own
patients who come ion with a health card.
I realize the wave of the future is to do away with welfare. I agree
something has to be changed with the system, but I think education and
training is the way to go. If our state hadn;t had such a program I
wouldn't have been able to persue my career in family medicine.
Any info you might have on family med. internet resources would be
greatly appreciated.
Beth Sullivan
MS II
OUCOM
BSD...@AOL.com
buchanan
Your Name Here, yourus...@cc.brynmawr.edu writes:
>Medicine. I would hope that Harvard doesn't discourage family
medicine.
>This country needs good family medical doctors... don't you think?
If this is inappropriate, please let me know.
I do not know what the incentive is to go into Primary Care. For an
extra year of training, one can become an OB/GYN with an average
income of $250,000, as opposed to an FP with an average income of
$100,000. Or go into Dermatology or Radiology with high incomes and
regular hours. Excuse me for the heresy, but why do we even have
family doctors? The last two times I have seen mine I have waited an
hour for 5 minutes of her time. Why don't we reserve family care for
Nurse Practioners and let MD's specialize only? How can anyone give
good care with 5 minutes or *less* of time with a patient?
This probably belongs on t.p.m. but screw it. I have wanted to be a
Doctor forever. I know I have the mental capabilities and more
humanity than most. But sometimes I wonder if this system works
against the person who *wants* to give of themselves.
If you saw _Sisters_ on Saturday, you know what kind of doctor I want
to be. Is that too much to ask?
_____________________________________________________
What I carry in my heart
Brings us so close, or so far apart.
Only love can make love.
Peter Gabriel, "That Voice Again"
Nowayout
On 12 Apr 1995, buchanan wrote:
>
> I do not know what the incentive is to go into Primary Care. For an
> extra year of training, one can become an OB/GYN with an average
> income of $250,000, as opposed to an FP with an average income of
> $100,000. Or go into Dermatology or Radiology with high incomes and
>
It's really hard to get into a dermatology or radiology residency. If
your an Ob/Gyn, you have to be around pregnant women, an unenjoyable
experience.
Nowayout
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Almed3
with the why do we need primary care docs and why can't we hire physician
extenders such as nurse practitioners or PA's. It is the ability to
understand disease rather than just reacting to symptoms that seperates
out physicians from others. I agree that almost anyone could take care of
the common cold or learn how to give enough blood pressure medicine to
bring down someone's diastolic pressure, but it is the ability of the
physician to recognize a pattern of disease that may suggest renal artery
stenosis or hyperthyroidism or pheo for the cause of that patient's
hypertension.
As to the comments of the glories of being a specialist for an extra year
or two of work, please get in contact with many residents finishing up in
radiology, anesthesiology, dermatology, cardiology this past year and ask
them how easy it was to find that 250K payoff you were talking about. The
country is starting to realize what many of us already knew. Family
practitioners and internists and pediatricians can care for most (not all)
medical problems less expensively with less invasive care than our
specialist colleagues. "If you go to Midas, you get a muffler".
Thomas W Frederickson
>It's really hard to get into a dermatology or radiology residency. If
>your an Ob/Gyn, you have to be around pregnant women, an unenjoyable
>experience.
I don't know about derm, but this year radiology was not a tough match.
As for being around pregnant women -- as a happily married father of four
-- I resent your comments. You should consider changing your attitudes;
women , after all do make up 1/2 of the population, and most, at some
point do get pregnant. Despite the fact that you may not find it
enjoyable, they will be your patients, co-workers, friends, maybe even
your wife.
buchanan
writes:
>I'm an internist not a family practitioner, but I can still take issue
>with the why do we need primary care docs and why can't we hire
physician
>extenders such as nurse practitioners or PA's.
I am sorry if I was offensive. This is an issue that concerns me as I
would like to go into primary care. For me, getting the MD or DO would
take almost as long as the NP route.
It is the ability to
>understand disease rather than just reacting to symptoms that
seperates
>out physicians from others. I agree that almost anyone could take
care of
>the common cold or learn how to give enough blood pressure medicine to
>bring down someone's diastolic pressure, but it is the ability of the
>physician to recognize a pattern of disease that may suggest renal
artery
>stenosis or hyperthyroidism or pheo for the cause of that patient's
>hypertension.
This is part of my concern. I have known too many people who's FP's or
Internists did not recognize there was a more serious problem. For
example: my step-sister's FP did not recognize the symptoms of
pancreatitis. When a doctor can only give you 5 minutes, is he/she
going to have the time to recognize a pattern of symptoms? If the
doctor is part of a large practice and the patient has to see many
doctors due to scheduling constraints, where is the continuity of
care? I do not know for a fact that NPs on the average spend more time
with patients, but I would bet it happens. How can we restructure the
system to give physicians more time with their patients? Can it happen?
>
>As to the comments of the glories of being a specialist for an extra
year
>or two of work, please get in contact with many residents finishing
up in
>radiology, anesthesiology, dermatology, cardiology this past year and
ask
>them how easy it was to find that 250K payoff you were talking about.
The
>country is starting to realize what many of us already knew. Family
>practitioners and internists and pediatricians can care for most (not
all)
>medical problems less expensively with less invasive care than our
>specialist colleagues. "If you go to Midas, you get a muffler".
In many respects I can understand why one would want too specialize.
It gives one an ability to become an expert in a field. Also, I have
heard that the specialities can be more interesting as far as the
types of cases treated. As for myself and my goals, Primary Care would
be the most likely to offer me the opportunity to serve in the manner
I desire.
buchanan
fred...@gold.tc.umn.edu writes:
>As for being around pregnant women -- as a happily married father of
four
>-- I resent your comments. You should consider changing your
attitudes;
>women , after all do make up 1/2 of the population, and most, at some
At least he knows his limitations. I have *met* OB/GYNS with a bad
attitude before. One was a woman.
Marshall Craig
>>I don't know about derm, but this year radiology was not a tough match. <<
That's because there are no jobs available once you finish training. The
market is saturated. This is also true for Anesthesiology and Pathology, and
several of the Internal Medicine subspecialties, like Pulmonology and
Cardiology.
Read the front page of the Wall Street Journal March 17th, 95: "Numb and
Number," which describes what is happening in Anesthesiology, and gives a
good indication of the future of many sub-specialties.
>>If your an Ob/Gyn, you have to be around pregnant women, an unenjoyable
experience.<<
Quite the uninformed, narrow-minded, misogynist, aren't we?
Sent via The Rest Of Us BBS - Chicago MUG - Internet gateway
Marshall Craig
or two of work, please get in contact with many residents finishing up in
radiology, anesthesiology, dermatology, cardiology this past year and ask
them how easy it was to find that 250K payoff you were talking about. The
country is starting to realize what many of us already knew. Family
practitioners and internists and pediatricians can care for most (not all)
medical problems less expensively with less invasive care than our
specialist colleagues. "If you go to Midas, you get a muffler". <<
Not quite true.
Family practitioners, generalists, etc. do not have the training or abilities
to replace radiologists, anesthesiologists, and pathologists- these fields
require specialty training to which generalists are not even exposed. The
marketsplace problems (i.e: NO JOBS ARE OUT THERE) in these specialties are
due to over-supply, and the fact that no one is hiring because of
uncertainties in the future of these hospital-based practices.
On the other hand, in certain Internal Medicine subspecialties such as
Cardiology, Pulmonology, Gastroenterology, etc., generalists do receive some
training, and they are being asked to replace these specialists to help hold
down costs, with mixed success. Yes, a nurse practitioner would be cheaper
for some (not most) medical problems, but when dealing with an MI, in such a
critical situation wouldn't you rather have someone fully trained in
Cardiology treating your heart attack?