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🩺 Why isn’t anyone talking about doctors leaving?
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🩺 Why isn’t anyone talking about doctors leaving?
The quiet in today’s waiting rooms isn’t just about efficiency. It may signal something deeper: burnout, loss of autonomy, and the erosion of the doctor–patient relationship that once defined medicine.
Dr. Varon explores what’s really happening behind the scenes, and what we lose when physicians walk away in his latest Brownstone op-ed. (link in comments)
Have you noticed the quiet exodus?
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5 Replies
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Link to article https://brownstone.org/articles/the-silence-of-the-waiting-rooms
brownstone.org
The Silence of the Waiting Rooms
Waiting rooms are quiet. By reaching out to representatives, supporting community clinics, individuals can contribute to turning the tide.
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About 8 years ago, while living in MA, my Primary Care MD was retiring. I was sorry to see him go. He was a no nonsense guy, but he at east recognized a valid question or point from his patients. He was outspoken about his frustrations with his profession, in particular how he had to rush through with all his patients. There was immense pressure to move quantity through the system; quality was secondary. He couldn’t wait to leave it behind and hit the golf course. Already at that time it was almost impossible to find MDs accepting new patients, so I accepted his replacement without a peep (even though he was a letdown). Here in KY it’s more that family practices are thin in the rural area that I live in, and it is dominated by one hospital system. you take what’s available, or you travel. I have a 4 hour round trip drive to see an integrative physician in IN. There are also more choices in Cincinnati; also 4 hours round trip. As frustrating as this is, I would not trade where we live now to be closer to a major city.
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That’s a shame. It’s exactly what happened with that MA doctor I mentioned. His bosses pulled the same move. I have an OK regular doctor here in KY, but I’ve heard his wife is after him to retire. I don’t know what I’ll do then. There are mostly females left in that practice. Yes the integrative services don’t come cheap, especially with no insurance coverage. But my wife and I decided it made more sense to pay for care that might cure me, rather than go broke paying our portion of treatments that will likely kill me and/or make what time I have left miserable (surgery, radiation, chemo). So we’re playing both sides: taking what Medicare will cover in the way of drugs, and getting alternative treatments elsewhere at our expense.
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@hiddenhill Thank you for sharing here. It feels like there are so many in the same or very similar situation.
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