Recently, I came across an article that stated that 9 out of 10 doctors would not recommend medicine for those starting out on their career path. While the source of this statistic was not revealed, it is indeed clear that doctors are dissatisfied with the practice of medicine.
Why are doctors unhappy about their careers?
1. The control of medicine is slowly being wrested away. Increasing government regulations are proving to be over-burdensome to many. Insurance companies are increasingly denying care that physicians feel their patients need.
2. Reimbursements for services provided have remained stagnant or decreased over the pat decade. Yet, overhead costs heads have skyrocketed. Many doctors were unable to maintain financially viable practices in this climate. Also, inflation climbed resulting in sinking incomes.
3. Doctors work long hours. Even when not in the office, doctors are required to be available to their patients. While some doctors are on-call 24/7, others work in a call rotation. This still results in long hours and middle of the night calls. Doctors need to be ready to respond in a moment’s notice.
4. The malpractice atmosphere has been overly restrictive. Many doctors practice defensive medicine, or, practice in a way to avoid being sued. Many tests are ordered just to cover all bases, yet the ordering doctor would not have ordered it otherwise. Many of the malpractice suits filed are frivolous. They have no basis that the doctor was the cause of any perceived damages. Also, premiums for malpractice coverage have also increased exponentially. Some specialties, such as OB/GYN, have had to adjust their practices to be able to afford their premiums. Some doctors stopped delivering babies just for this reason.
5. Doctors’ minds are always at work. Even after hours, we are thinking of patients that we have seen during the day. If we have a critically ill patient, we are always analyzing what more we can do. We cannot shut off our minds. This can affect our relationships with other people.
6. The cost of failure is unforgivable. Everyone is human and makes mistakes. However, when a doctor makes a mistake, it can cost a person their life. It is very stressful to be responsible for the well-being and life of other people. Doctors are driven to be perfect, an unattainable goal.
7. People have unrealistic expectations on doctors. If a patient has something such as a headache, it is very easy to blame the doctor when the prescribed medication doesn’t work. Very often, we do not know what medication is going to work until it is tried. While this may prove frustrating for patients, there is simply no way of guaranteeing the results. Yet, many patients feel compelled to cast doubt and blame on the prescribing doctor for lack of clinical benefit of a prescribed therapy.
8. Most doctors start out their careers with huge medical school loans to pay off. Many put off other purchases, such as buying their own home, for years until they pay down their debt.
While many doctors feel some degree of dissatisfaction, most still feel it is an honorable profession. In no other career do patients so easily place their trust in another’s hands or lay responsibility of their survival in those trusted. Doctors are often the ones others turn to when life gets over-bearing. It is truly an honor to try to make a difference in another’s person’s life. We are often the ones who sees a person’s first breath in life and the last ones to see them before they die. We have heard so many people’s last words on earth. There are things that make us unhappy, but being a doctor is still one of the most amazing professions of all.
