I remember climbing into my mother’s office chair and pretending to be the doctor. I was six years old then, wearing her oversized white coat with its sleeves hanging over my small hands. She was a practicing physician in a time period that no longer exists — communist Armenia. This was a time when physicians made about the same salary as factory workers — a time when university education and health care were free of charge. Nevertheless, I never once heard my mother complain about how little money she made or how difficult her job was. This was the time of house calls when after a busy morning of seeing patients in the office, she would take two buses to go see her patients in their homes, often walking several blocks in the scorching summer heat. Instead, she often shared stories of triumph, healing, inspiration, and love for her patients and colleagues. Her stores were what inspired me years later, to pursue medicine myself.
Fast forward to 2018, when I am practicing medicine here in the United States, in the most affluent country there ever was in the world. Yet, there is not a week that goes by when I don’t hear stories of lament about cut wages and reimbursements, challenging patients and toxic work environments. Yes, physicians today do not make nearly as much as we did 30 or 50 years ago. However, I often feel that there is so much negativity surrounding our profession that it takes away from the sacred calling we were destined to. Where have we gone wrong? Why are our physicians burning out? Why is physician suicide at an all-time high in decades and job satisfaction so low? Why are so many physicians looking for alternative “side gigs” or leaving medicine all-together?
I am not sure that there are easy answers to these questions. In 2018, we are overworked, drained and tired of the grind. Where do we begin? How do we begin?
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