Mq, I know hundreds of general docs, but could count on my fingers - of one hand - those whose judgment I would seriously trust.
When I was still young, I was lucky enough to have learned an important lesson. I had a patient - an old, retired, very accomplished doctor in his upper 80's. Once, he came to my office with a stack of papers - lab and imaging reports, several consults and notes from specialists, etc. He was in a bit of trouble, and there were serious questions. I read the reports, and went on to explain to him what it was that the specialists were concerned about, and what they thought he should do, and so on. The man stopped me - he used to call me by my first name - looked me in the eye, and said "I don't care what they think, I came to find out what YOU think".
There it was. From that day on, whenever in doubt, I always kept asking myself the very same question. It worked.
Primary care is not just about knowing as much as possible. That's just the basis, the prerequisite.
Government has been pushing generalist docs into becoming "gatekeepers". People look at a profession which was mutilated by decades of government meddling, and say "We don't really need them. Any person with a modicum of knowledge and common sense can do it".
Well, I'm not worried. Reality has a way of reasserting itself, and this too shall pass. The pendulum will swing back. |
