However, I got an e-mail from Medscape that interested me; it was their Physician Lifestyle & Happiness Report 2020, and I couldn't wait to see the summary.
This report, which broke physicians down primarily by specialty and generation (Boomer, Gen X, Millennial), tells us how gleeful our doctors are, or aren't, and a few other bits of info about them. For example, you might wonder which specialists are the happiest outside of work. (Rheumatologists, as it happens; neurologists are the most miserable). Which generation of doctor gets likkered-up the most? (Boomers and Xers tied with 8% having more than six drinks per week, which could mean anything from one glass of wine with dinner every night to being loaded 24/7; only 6% of Millennial doctors have more than six weekly.)
For the most part doctors are not much different than the rest of us. Half of them want to lose weight, for example. Many of them work long hours -- 33% to 35% of them work 41 to 50 hours a week -- but most get more vacation than the rest of us, and probably have a stronger feeling than you and I do that our work is worthwhile and necessary.
But this chart amazed me:
Well, 80% of them are married, and probably have kids, and huge medical-school loans, and of course huge malpractice insurance payments... Maybe it's amazing that they can even buy Toyotas rather than Kias.
This kind of made me sad, though:
More proof, that A) a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and B) social media is the greatest anti-social force in the world.
On the one hand, we're told that physicians want us to be informed patients; on the other, we all know people (hopefully not ourselves) who do think they know more than their doctor and are willing to go visit my old attorney pals at Greef, Sorrell, & Payne for the slightest hope of a payday reason to sue. And we know there are plenty of people pleased to trash a doctor's reputation for any reason, or for no reason (even a medical rival might do it). Personally I'm a little sore at my otolaryngologist, who doesn't even seem to be curious as to why I've lost a range of hearing in one ear, when to me -- who would very much like to know why so I can stop it from rendering me deaf entirely -- it's kind of a big deal. And yet I haven't gone online to try to wreck the man's livelihood.
It's a hard job, doctoring, and we the patients usually don't make life easier for doctors. We say that health is our #1 priority, but we act as if pleasure is. And it probably is. So they're stuck driving Toyotas instead of Lambos while their advice falls on deaf ears.
Of course, in my case, if the ears are deaf, then I want my lawyers to talk to my otolaryngologist.
4 comments:
The Jumping Frenchmen of Maine. The things I discover from this blog! Thank you, Fred. And I think you should seek out another medic for your hearing loss. I SAID, I THINK...sorry my tinnitus got the better of me. :)
I hear Japanese doctors tend to have cataracts, although some have rincons and a few have mercedes
The ENT I saw last year was the first doctor I had seen in almost 25 years that wasn't a dentist. I hope it stays that way. Going to the doctor or the pharmacy is like being in an exotic foreign country and the natives keep expecting you to understand them.
Yes, Toyota/Honda is a broad category. I doubt they have Corollas or Fits.
With a career in the medical industry as a scientist, not a physician, I have opinions about doctors. Many are competent, caring, and regular people who happen to heal other people for their livelihood. Many are boorish and incredibly vain. Half of them graduated with a grade below their class average. Many have made their work their lives, at the expense of their families and non-doctor friends. Many are miserable, despite living in upper-class dwellings and driving fancy cars (your table notwithstanding). Many have overdeveloped senses of superiority, where if people have ANY opinions about their own health, that translates into annoyance and dismissive comments. Many think that if someone heard about a drug somewhere, it's annoying to have to tell them why they qualify/don't qualify. Many are overworked and crunched for time and can't bother to spend one second more with someone than necessary, even though they are paid far more than the average person they are seeing and really that "overworked" is a result of wanting to get paid as much as possible at the expense of having a little extra time in their schedule.
Doctors can be great. They can also be terrible. At no time are they "heroes by default" - they don't get my respect simply by finishing medical school.
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