Let me tell you about a physician, a REAL physician. One who took the Hippocratic Oath (if you lost me here, then you have no idea what it is like to be a doctor) as their religion, just as I and most of my friends do.
His name was Aaron. He was born to a loving newly immigrated family in the NY area with nothing. His parents scraped by, with a rudamentary understanding of english and the new America ways, keep in mind this was in the early 1900s. He grew up living amongst other new immigrants with an Uncle that sold shoes on the street, and other relatives that worked as cleaning women. Sound familiar? Yes its the same story as all new immigrants. His parents worked and worked, and he saw growing up just how classist America is. He realized the only way to get ahead was by studying and using his brain as opposed to his physical labor.
As such he decided his dream was to be a doctor to help the community around him and elevate the health and wellness of the immigrants around him. (TRUE STORY).
Finishing highschool in a huge melting pot of america, a time when the area was controlled and safe by the way of the fist. Controlled by the likes of people like Meyer Lansky. Where the streets were dangerous and unpredictable but thankfully the mafia was there and as long as people paid their taxes to them, they kept it safe and under control. Really no different then any rough neighborhood today, or Uncle Sam keeping the US safe with a strong military.
After years and years of studying at the expense of working on the streets and helping support his family, he applied to medical school. Just like today it was extremely competitive, even more so. Some colleges were racist and antisemitic and had quotas to prevent too many non WASPs to attend. The circumstances of college are murky but he graduated college and went to apply to medical school just as he had always dreamed. He was accepted with his stellar record and ethics to NYU. The cost was too prohibitive, to his dissapointment he could not manage to afford it. Instead he decided to take a large ship back to the old country and learn from european greats at a far less cost. His professors are some of the founders of modern medicine attending Semmelweis University (an AMAZING UNIVERSITY) with AMAZING Staff --- even today having been myself to meet with the Dean.
This time period was unfortunately just before ww2. He put up with sadistic antisemites who would invade the university and beat the students. Just like what goes on at Harvard. See photo below of a student getting harassed and bullied at Harvard recently.
It honestly is a miracle he finished his studies in Budapest. The german nazi fervor had taken over already by this time, and he completed school just after Kristalnacht. Had he been a Hungarian citizen he'd have likely been killed. But, he was an American, in german it would be friedlander. He had to traverse germany to return back to the US, and even had to sit on trains, that traversed the same tracks they'd cart families off to be murdered in gas chambers. I can't imagine how scary it would be to have to pass thru passport control, but alas he did and got a swastika stamp on his American Passport (true and it can be seen to this day).
After returning to the states and to his dismay he saw that the United States was ignoring the rise of antisemitism, just as they are today. UPenn, Harvard and the rest of the universities and institutions are again doing this.
He was one of two children, and knew if his brother went to war he'd be infantry. If he went he'd be a physician and have a chance at life, and the chance to save many other's lives. After being refused by the military office to enlist because of his minor medical issues, finally out of desperation he was accepted as an Officer. Thru a serious of clerical errors and the issues of beurocracy, they seemed to forget about his medical issues that would preclude him from being useful at the front. Alas, he was sent to the near front days after Normandy. Thru a serious of unfortunate events he had a bump in with an antisemitic power hungry and egotistical future war hero. Two alpha males, that resulted in him being wrongfully jailed for standing up to this Sargent who had stepped in as the higher up had to go for a conference with the generals. Subsequently thru Congress, this all was righted in time.
The main thing of this story is his practice of medicine. After the war he set up an office in the very same immigrant community he was born, the Lower East Side of NYC. This was an amazing time to be a doctor, a time before business and politics interferred with the practice of medicine. He would work all day, and go home for his meals down the street. Having lived thru WW1 and 2 he was traumatized to the point of being hyperfocused on his work. He'd see any patient that walked in. Even people that would normally wish him death for his religion, and for the most part individuals who had barely a nickel to their name and couldn't pay. Instead they'd sometimes bring him food, or other items in leu as payment. He never cared to ask or push anyone to pay. He was happy to have the privledge to practice medicine, money is not an incentive for someone that isn't an idol worshipper.
On several occasions he was even held up at his office by drug seekers. But did this dissuade Aaron from his practie of medicine? Nah. He just moved his family from upstairs to down the street. He could find happiness as long as he was working as a doctor and enjoying the gratifying feeling of seeing people get better and helping people.
Now we get to the real point! Insurance was rare at this point, it was only when the US gov got involved that it became a necessary part of medicine. What was Aaron's solution? Ignore billing patients and not waste his time with insurance. However, soon his wife realized they had no money for food. She decided to leave him be and just take over the paperwork and billing and again they had food.
Today, the practice of medicine has been destroyed by Politicians, Business, and most of all the disconnection of physicians from their patients. Politicians set rules without understanding what they are doing, Businesses buy and sell medical groups and practices like they are trading Pokemon Cards. And Doctors are unhappy and have little continuity of care or control over their lives.
The solid doctors, will tune all this out and just do the best they can. Others get fed up and just become idol worshippers and forsake their Hippocratic Oath opening Ketamine clinics, or peddling medical marijuana and sell out. However, nothing will improve this way, it is a spiral downward. Between the political involvement and overhead from insurance, business interests, and greedy lawyers. Doctors are fearful of ever making a mistake and over order expensive tests and surgeries that cost hundreds of thousands and further more burden the medical system abdicating responsibility to tests that are unecessary and referring patients around in circles.
We have plenty of doctors in America. The issue is utilizing them in an appropriate manner that leaves them control over their delivery of care to patients, and not worried about a greedy lawyer or businessman destroying what they worked so hard for and dedicated their life for.
Healthcare would really be easy to fix here in the USA in principle. We need to remove business interests and politics. The issue is physician life unsatisfaction as a result. Doctors are a tight knit community and most won't even speak freely to non doctors. We need to take a lesson from the days of long past and do the following and people like Aaron with STRONG ETHICS AND MORALS will step up and practice their art with zealous fervor even if it means driving an old Volvo or Acura and a 8 year old used electric car and living in an average 3BR home.
As it is now, we have too much waste in the medical system going to the business people and lawyers. Here in the state of Illinois, doctors flee and over order tests as a result of fear of making a accidental mistake and paying millions of dollars. When really the people that are at fault are the politicians that make it impossible for a Doctor to just be a Doctor unless they refuse all insurance and take cash only, such as concierge medicine, nonsense ketamine clinics, plastic surgeons etc.
The issue is one of overutilization as a result of excessive medical tests and fear of making a mistake. The issue is one of fear of being responsible. The time wasted on paperwork and computer work. Good luck finding a doctor that looks you in the eye instead of at the computer documenting using bogus templates and other apps when a blank screen and dictatophone is all that is needed between patients. Good luck finding a good doctor like Aaron who hasn't given up and is just focused on retiring. Good luck asking a doctor to work more, money won't work as an incentive. I can't tell you how many times people beg me to work more and throw money at me with huge offers only for me to say, "sorry, I'd rather go to a park with my son and visit my family for dinner, then spend more time in a broken system."
WE DO NOT NEED MORE DOCTORS. WE NEED GOVERNMENT AND LAWYERS AND POLITICIANS AND BUSINESS INTERESTS TO LEAVE THE DOCS ALONE!
We need patients and politicians to put their faith in doctors and stop pretending they themselves can decide what care patients should get. We shouldn't have to order unecessary tests or help patients work around the system to get seen.
Moving along, he barely
, and different ethnic groups
There is no shortage of doctors. The issue is with the medical system created to enrich insurance industry, politicians, businessmen, and other idol worshipping money grubbing individuals at the expense of the regular person.
Let me tell you a little history about the insurance industry and what it did to the medical system on day 1. When the insurance industry started and government likewise got involved, it created a HUGE burden on physicians.
I recall a world renowned physician, may he rest in peace, who practiced as a physician in the area of NYC
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