Don’t get sick. Seriously, don’t. As much as it pains me to say it, American medicine…no, the entire healthcare system, is, to put it plainly, FUBAR. Those of us with boots on the ground have known this for quite a long time; I suppose we’ve been riding the decline, knowing full well there wasn’t a damned thing we could do, much like Major King Kong riding the bomb down to eternity in Dr Strangelove.
A friend and I are trying to think up several key signs that our civ is definitely crashing. I wonder if you have some item to contribute. Something a regular person not part of the medical behemoth could notice if they looked.
Thank you for the post. I think it's already worse in Europe.
A glimmer of hope is offered in the concept of the concierge physician. I stumbled to her because I have a kid in medical school who did a rotation with her. The concept is simple and old-fashioned: One pays a monthly subscription fee and then you pay for tests and treatment directly. No insurance allowed. While that may sound grim, her costs are a tiny fraction of the same tests billed through insurance. Like an old-school doctor, she knows me and takes her time with exams and issues. I have her personal cell number and can contact her when needed. What a refreshing change from the major teaching hospital that was my primary care provider. She is not as expensive as one might believe.
The future of medicine, might actually be reverting to what medicine once was.
New physician here. I was finishing up medical school during the height of the COVID hysteria and it made me embarassed and ashamed of what the medical profession has become, even to the point where it made me start to regret my career choice. The frustration is compounded by how unhealthy, irresponsible, and disrespectful that our populace is becoming.
It's only going to get worse. Medical schools actively select for left-leaning, woke candidates who suffer from an incurable strain of groupthink. Even the admissions test has been changed to reflect this goal. Medical school has become an assembly line where the raw inputs are money, politics, and young adults who have no critical thinking ability, and the final product is a debt-laden drone who continually bleats the latest "guidelines" and "standard of care." There are still some physicians, such as yourself, within the profession that reject the groupthink nonsense, but as the healthcare system becomes more centralized, we will be purged out.
I'm still trying to figure out how I want my practice to be in the near future in a system that continues to decline. As resources become more scarce, prices rice, and regulation becomes more of a burden, "back to the basics" may be the future. I look forward to reading more of your writing and hearing your thoughts.
As the parent of a current medical student I am glad we raised up our own future doctor within the family because the general state of the medical school system appears to be a giant dumpster fire. I can say with some confidence that the "elite" schools are no longer admitting the best students and what is being taught seems to have far less to do with medicine than you would expect.
Here in NW CT the hospital is pretty good, and in Hartford St. Mary's is good, with a very good trauma center as far as I can tell after spending a week and a half there due to a fall. Unfortunately, the doctors and clinics are horrendous in my area, with cardiologists, pulmonary and especially vascular specialists being nothing more than dope dealers, prescribing pills for ailments you don't have and spending maybe 10 minutes with you on a annual visit. I was mistreated by two different vascular surgeons who performed unnecessary operations on me sealing some veins for nothing, and a cardiologist who was furious I wouldn't take the statins he was going to make a kickback on.
You'd be better off seeing a witch doctor. My pulmonologist isn't too bad other then he's grossly obese, which kinda dims the aurora these people think they have around themselves. He hasn't tested me in 2 years (I have COPD), but he seems to know what he's doing with my meds. You take what you get.
When, not if, the proverbial SHTF, I'll be up the creek without my trelegy and rescue inhalers. I figure I'll last about two months, tops, before I'm gasping like a fish out of water, more likely one month.
Thanks for your candid observations. I too am a surgeon. I phoned a chain pharmacy not too long ago to call in an Rx for Ivermectin for a patient of mine requesting it with an early URI. No testing was done, my patient just wanted to be sure and head off any possible Covid. The pharmacist told me they needed a DIAGNOSIS before they would fill the Rx, stating that their manager would not allow them to fill Ivermectin for Covid. I informed the pharmacist it was not a Covid case as no testing has been done, simply URI treatment. They would not fill the Rx!!! I told the pharmacist that either 1) he was stupid and uninformed, 2) that he was manipulating the practice of medicine, or 3) he was getting kickback from Pharma for NOT filling Rx to compete with the “jab”. I then told him I thought he probably was NOT stupid - so which of the other two was the correct answer. He wouldn’t answer. My patient was outraged vowing to never go that pharmacy chain again. I was able to get it called in to another druggist. Who’s running the show??
Gotz referred to the Cleveland Clinic for congenital heart issues and only found out after the fact that they have been rated #1 for cardiology for, like 20 years. Made me notice the degree of difference in quality of care compared
A friend and I are trying to think up several key signs that our civ is definitely crashing. I wonder if you have some item to contribute. Something a regular person not part of the medical behemoth could notice if they looked.
Thank you for the post. I think it's already worse in Europe.
A glimmer of hope is offered in the concept of the concierge physician. I stumbled to her because I have a kid in medical school who did a rotation with her. The concept is simple and old-fashioned: One pays a monthly subscription fee and then you pay for tests and treatment directly. No insurance allowed. While that may sound grim, her costs are a tiny fraction of the same tests billed through insurance. Like an old-school doctor, she knows me and takes her time with exams and issues. I have her personal cell number and can contact her when needed. What a refreshing change from the major teaching hospital that was my primary care provider. She is not as expensive as one might believe.
The future of medicine, might actually be reverting to what medicine once was.
New physician here. I was finishing up medical school during the height of the COVID hysteria and it made me embarassed and ashamed of what the medical profession has become, even to the point where it made me start to regret my career choice. The frustration is compounded by how unhealthy, irresponsible, and disrespectful that our populace is becoming.
It's only going to get worse. Medical schools actively select for left-leaning, woke candidates who suffer from an incurable strain of groupthink. Even the admissions test has been changed to reflect this goal. Medical school has become an assembly line where the raw inputs are money, politics, and young adults who have no critical thinking ability, and the final product is a debt-laden drone who continually bleats the latest "guidelines" and "standard of care." There are still some physicians, such as yourself, within the profession that reject the groupthink nonsense, but as the healthcare system becomes more centralized, we will be purged out.
I'm still trying to figure out how I want my practice to be in the near future in a system that continues to decline. As resources become more scarce, prices rice, and regulation becomes more of a burden, "back to the basics" may be the future. I look forward to reading more of your writing and hearing your thoughts.
As the parent of a current medical student I am glad we raised up our own future doctor within the family because the general state of the medical school system appears to be a giant dumpster fire. I can say with some confidence that the "elite" schools are no longer admitting the best students and what is being taught seems to have far less to do with medicine than you would expect.
Have you looked into the efficacy of fenbendazol for cancer treatment?
Have you considered the possibility parasitic organisms could be responsible for many "incurable" diseases such as MS, Parkinsons etc?
Here in NW CT the hospital is pretty good, and in Hartford St. Mary's is good, with a very good trauma center as far as I can tell after spending a week and a half there due to a fall. Unfortunately, the doctors and clinics are horrendous in my area, with cardiologists, pulmonary and especially vascular specialists being nothing more than dope dealers, prescribing pills for ailments you don't have and spending maybe 10 minutes with you on a annual visit. I was mistreated by two different vascular surgeons who performed unnecessary operations on me sealing some veins for nothing, and a cardiologist who was furious I wouldn't take the statins he was going to make a kickback on.
You'd be better off seeing a witch doctor. My pulmonologist isn't too bad other then he's grossly obese, which kinda dims the aurora these people think they have around themselves. He hasn't tested me in 2 years (I have COPD), but he seems to know what he's doing with my meds. You take what you get.
When, not if, the proverbial SHTF, I'll be up the creek without my trelegy and rescue inhalers. I figure I'll last about two months, tops, before I'm gasping like a fish out of water, more likely one month.
Thanks for your candid observations. I too am a surgeon. I phoned a chain pharmacy not too long ago to call in an Rx for Ivermectin for a patient of mine requesting it with an early URI. No testing was done, my patient just wanted to be sure and head off any possible Covid. The pharmacist told me they needed a DIAGNOSIS before they would fill the Rx, stating that their manager would not allow them to fill Ivermectin for Covid. I informed the pharmacist it was not a Covid case as no testing has been done, simply URI treatment. They would not fill the Rx!!! I told the pharmacist that either 1) he was stupid and uninformed, 2) that he was manipulating the practice of medicine, or 3) he was getting kickback from Pharma for NOT filling Rx to compete with the “jab”. I then told him I thought he probably was NOT stupid - so which of the other two was the correct answer. He wouldn’t answer. My patient was outraged vowing to never go that pharmacy chain again. I was able to get it called in to another druggist. Who’s running the show??
Gotz referred to the Cleveland Clinic for congenital heart issues and only found out after the fact that they have been rated #1 for cardiology for, like 20 years. Made me notice the degree of difference in quality of care compared
to the local hospital. Thank God for that!