Doc Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 (edited) It's certainly not easy, but that isn't what I said. I don't want to get into a semantic argument over what "not hard at all" means. I realize it was a dig at birddog. All I'll say is that it is hard to become a doctor, and I'm not just talking about the intelligence it takes, since there are a lot of smart people who could become doctors but choose not to. Frankly, I don't even know why anyone would want to be one now. Edited August 3, 2012 by Doc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeYouToTasker Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 I don't want to get into a semantic argument over what "not hard at all" means. All I'll say is that it is hard to become a doctor, and I'm not just talking about the intelligence it takes, since there are a lot of smart people who could become doctors but choose not to. Frankly, I don't even know why anyone would want to be one now. Assume that I'm speaking about comparable professional fields. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdog1960 Posted August 3, 2012 Author Share Posted August 3, 2012 You'd be surprised. Some of these guys must be savants because some of them require long and extensive explanations, delivered very slowly with examples & explanations just to understand very basic concepts that your average Joe gets right off the bat. Granted, it isn't all of them; some are very smart, but too high a % are functionally retarded for it to be a coincidence. If you refer to him as Mr. Douche Bag & he corrects you with Dr. Douche Bag you're probably dealing with a moron who got a degree so he'd have plausible deniability to accusations of idiocy. there really are very few moron doctors (at least with degrees from us schools). the volume of material required to digest and retain precludes them from making it through much less getting accepted in the first place. overall, the only more selective application process that i'm aware of is vet school. now douchebags, that's adifferent story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob's House Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 there really are very few moron doctors (at least with degrees from us schools). the volume of material required to digest and retain precludes them from making it through much less getting accepted in the first place. overall, the only more selective application process that i'm aware of is vet school. now douchebags, that's adifferent story. I know, that's why I even now find it surprising. Perhaps the arrogance has caused a once nimble brain to atrophy, but you'd be amazed at some of the questions & comments I've heard from otherwise successful people. Don't worry, as long as you're not that guy that makes sure everyone knows to call you Dr. the odds are in your favor. Of course if you've ever called a financial institution and been incredulous over the fact they wanted to confirm your personal info before giving unfettered access to your account info & funds, then yeah, you might be one of the simple ones. The only thing I can figure is these were guys with high SATs that got tired of being asked "what, are you !@#$ing stupid?" and became doctors so people would assume they were smart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdog1960 Posted August 3, 2012 Author Share Posted August 3, 2012 You'd be surprised. Some of these guys must be savants because some of them require long and extensive explanations, delivered very slowly with examples & explanations just to understand very basic concepts that your average Joe gets right off the bat. Granted, it isn't all of them; some are very smart, but too high a % are functionally retarded for it to be a coincidence. If you refer to him as Mr. Douche Bag & he corrects you with Dr. Douche Bag you're probably dealing with a moron who got a degree so he'd have plausible deniability to accusations of idiocy. kind of like i just did for the freestyle double entendre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 there really are very few moron doctors Oh, I can think of at least one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 So it was a poke at Mitt now? Someone poked Mitt? Didn't know he was on Facebook........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdog1960 Posted August 4, 2012 Author Share Posted August 4, 2012 You can't be a good doctor when your stated goal is to make care worse and to create scarcity for the majority of patients. by your reasoning, all of the almost 18000 doctors in this organization are not "good" doctors. this includes some very distinguished and respected clinicians and researchers. you might want to check out the cv and publications of Arthur Kellerman who was referenced in the wiki article on rationing in the us that i cited. by your criteria, he's not a good doctor, either. i'll happily keep the company of such people, your opinion notwithstanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeYouToTasker Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 by your reasoning, all of the almost 18000 doctors in this organization are not "good" doctors. this includes some very distinguished and respected clinicians and researchers. you might want to check out the cv and publications of Arthur Kellerman who was referenced in the wiki article on rationing in the us that i cited. by your criteria, he's not a good doctor, either. i'll happily keep the company of such people, your opinion notwithstanding. That is correct. They aren't good doctors. They've lobbied to do harm when the Oath they took clearly states that they won't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicot Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 I live in Canada and I believe we have the same system that you guys have. On our side, there has been increasing issues with regards to 1) Being able to get treatment in a timely matter (long wait periods for major surgery) 2) Hospital emergency rooms constantly at overcapacity 3) Impossible for people to get a family doctor unless you had one for a very long time 4) People opting to pay for semi-private since they can't get a family doctor or important tests a doctor might deem unnecessary. This after I'd estimate at least 40% of tax revenues (federal/provincial) are set aside for healthcare. To help reduce abuse of the system, the province tried to implement a $25 fee for every hospital visit which led to protests and a lot of pressure. They eventually scrapped the idea and just added a mandatory $200 medical fee on tax returns. Have you had the same issues? 1) This is definitely becoming an issue with costs needing to be cut due to the economic situation. Procedures that are needed urgently are still carried out asap but there is becoming an issue with things that are deemed not so pressing such as cataracts and hip-replacements. 2) Certainly accident and emergency can get very busy and I can remember having to wait for a couple of hours to be seen when I went in with a dislocated shoulder. However, I think the nurses do a pretty good job of prioritising so if your condition is serious you will be seen right away. A few years ago I was mugged walking home from a nightout - I woke up on the pavement to find my jaw broken in 3 places and a few of my teeth swimming around in my mouth. Despite it being Saturday night (a very busy time in A&E!) I was seen right away. I don't think this is a big issue. 3) No issue at all here. Registering with a doctor is a piece-of-cake. Check your local directory, go along with your bottle of urine for the initial checkup and that's it. Getting an NHS dentist is another thing though... 4) I don't think many people opt for private care. Certainly some may do so if they have problems as regards point 1) but I've never had to (except for dental work) and I don't know of many people who have had to either. Overall, I would say that the system over here is nowhere near as bad as you describe in Canada and I doubt that the Canadian problems are an inevitable consequence of a universal healthcare system but more to do with problems that are specific to Canada but you'd know a lot more about that than I do. A recent survey showed a record fall in satisfaction from 70% to 58%. However, things were always going to get difficult with cutbacks having to be made and 90% of patients would describe their care as being good to excellent. NHS satisfaction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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