“System” Nonsense

Being a doctor is hard. There’s a lot you have to know, whatever specialty you go into, and that includes rote information about how the body is put together, how it works, how it goes wrong, and how to fix it. We also must always keep in mind that these are people we’re dealing with, not just bodies, so we need to learn how to take care of sick people. As doctors, our job is to figure out what is wrong with our patients (diagnosis) and what to do about it (treatment.) We don’t necessarily do this all by ourselves. We have colleagues who help us by performing consultations, studies, and procedures. But the bottom line about being a doctor is we are the ones who make the diagnosis and figure out the treatment, even if then carried out by others. We can also turn to many other people who can help us take care of our patients: nurses, physical therapists, social workers, home health aides, and so forth. They can help provide us with information, sometimes crucial, that help us make the diagnosis or refine the treatment. But diagnosis and treatment is the definition of medicine. It is our job as doctors. Medical school is where we begin learning how to be a doctor. It’s a process that continues through postgraduate residency training, and throughout decades of practice. It is laughable to think that medical school is the only place we’ll ever learn what we need to know. It’s four years that seem forever at the time, but in retrospect seem s...
Source: Musings of a Dinosaur - Category: Primary Care Authors: Tags: Medical Source Type: blogs