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And I have fired my doctor. My alleged "primary care physician" who rarely deigned to touch me. The man who seemed unable to treat anything, choosing instead to send me to other doctors. I was getting tired of his shit, and today was the final insult.
First of all, I need to something clear. I do not give two shits about where a doctor is from. I don't give a damn about race, gender, even politics. I care about having a care team focused on doing the best for me and my health. With the majority of my doctors, this has been no problem. With Dr. X? Big problem. We shall start at the beginning.
When I got the word that my old healthcare provider was no longer dealing with Medicaid patients, I got signed up with a new provider. Looking at their Big Book of Doctors, I found Dr. X was less than a mile away. "How convenient!" I thought, "easy access to the man who was going to be the center of my medical support network.
I suppose the danger signs were there at my first visit. Dr. X is Korean. His staff (twp receptionists, no nurses or medical assistants) spoke heavily accented English. One barely understood English at all. I suppose I was one of their few oegug-ui (foreign) patients. But I can deal with anything, so I soldiered on.
But it's what went on in his tiny exam room that really annoyed me. My every complaint was shoved off to a specialist. I cannot remember the last time his listened to my lungs, and I'm a guy who has had multiple pulmonary embolisms and about ten cases of pneumonia. You think he would want to take a listen!
Everything got farmed out. Luckily, I've built a pretty good team, but it needs someone captaining the ship. All my docs are specialists, so my neurologist needs to know what my pulmonologist and hemo-oncologist are saying. In every office visit by Dr. X's, the doctors take a moment to read my file.
This has been going on for years. I tend to resist changing doctors because I rely on good relationships. But I realized that I had no relationship here. Here's another good one. I get an annual physical as part of my coverage. Dr. X's idea of a physical was ordering lab work. Not even sitting down and taking five minutes to discuss issues and possible problems.
But two things have brought matters to the point where I eagerly called Anthem/Blue Cross today. Twice, in fact, my first choice for a new doctor retired last year. On my last INR (the blood test to see how well my blood thinners are working) the results were running high. The anticoagulation clinic said they were sending Dr. X a prescription for a smaller dose pill. I never heard about it again.
Then comes today. As I mentioned a few days ago, I'm eager to get back to working in the gym. The SilverSneakers program requires that a short questionnaire be filled out by you and your doctor. Called this morning to make an appointment to drop off the paperwork and ask for a sleep apnea test, as Kirsten says my snoring is getting worse.
He punts everything to my pulmonologist. THIS GUY IS SUPPOSED TO BE MY DOCTOR. He is supposed to be linked into the Verity Health System so he can see all my recent results. Instead, he refuses to do the most basic of services like filling out a prescription for life-saving medication.
Fuck him and his tiny little practice. After a little searching, I found a doctor who shares a building with several members of my care team, has the qualifications I'm looking for and lists one of his languages as "Egyptian (Ancient)." I think we're going to get along fine.
But this is one of the problems with the current state of the educational system. The schools do not produce graduates with the skills to handle a PreMed/Medical School track, and those that do manage to make it all the way to earning their M.D. are saddled with hundreds of thousands, if not millions in debt.
So here's my solution, since you all knew I had one. Let's cut the military budget by 15% and give that $105 billion to the schools. Better campuses, up to date technology, well-paid teachers. vocational programs, 0% college loans. All the things we need to do to make American schools the envy of the world. I included vocational training in there because for too long there;'s been an educational stigma against those who want to work with their hands. The world needs electricians and car mechanics.
The second part is how we train doctors and lawyers. Here's a plan. If you agree to serve in some capacity for four years after graduation; in the military, working on a reservation or legal aid clinic in an area that needs a lawyer, the government pays for your schooling. Obviously, there would need to be some more seasoned doctors and lawyers at these places, but if you really want to be a doctor, give four years working in a clinic in South Central or on the Pyramid Lake Reservation.
First of all, I need to something clear. I do not give two shits about where a doctor is from. I don't give a damn about race, gender, even politics. I care about having a care team focused on doing the best for me and my health. With the majority of my doctors, this has been no problem. With Dr. X? Big problem. We shall start at the beginning.
When I got the word that my old healthcare provider was no longer dealing with Medicaid patients, I got signed up with a new provider. Looking at their Big Book of Doctors, I found Dr. X was less than a mile away. "How convenient!" I thought, "easy access to the man who was going to be the center of my medical support network.
I suppose the danger signs were there at my first visit. Dr. X is Korean. His staff (twp receptionists, no nurses or medical assistants) spoke heavily accented English. One barely understood English at all. I suppose I was one of their few oegug-ui (foreign) patients. But I can deal with anything, so I soldiered on.
But it's what went on in his tiny exam room that really annoyed me. My every complaint was shoved off to a specialist. I cannot remember the last time his listened to my lungs, and I'm a guy who has had multiple pulmonary embolisms and about ten cases of pneumonia. You think he would want to take a listen!
Everything got farmed out. Luckily, I've built a pretty good team, but it needs someone captaining the ship. All my docs are specialists, so my neurologist needs to know what my pulmonologist and hemo-oncologist are saying. In every office visit by Dr. X's, the doctors take a moment to read my file.
This has been going on for years. I tend to resist changing doctors because I rely on good relationships. But I realized that I had no relationship here. Here's another good one. I get an annual physical as part of my coverage. Dr. X's idea of a physical was ordering lab work. Not even sitting down and taking five minutes to discuss issues and possible problems.
But two things have brought matters to the point where I eagerly called Anthem/Blue Cross today. Twice, in fact, my first choice for a new doctor retired last year. On my last INR (the blood test to see how well my blood thinners are working) the results were running high. The anticoagulation clinic said they were sending Dr. X a prescription for a smaller dose pill. I never heard about it again.
Then comes today. As I mentioned a few days ago, I'm eager to get back to working in the gym. The SilverSneakers program requires that a short questionnaire be filled out by you and your doctor. Called this morning to make an appointment to drop off the paperwork and ask for a sleep apnea test, as Kirsten says my snoring is getting worse.
He punts everything to my pulmonologist. THIS GUY IS SUPPOSED TO BE MY DOCTOR. He is supposed to be linked into the Verity Health System so he can see all my recent results. Instead, he refuses to do the most basic of services like filling out a prescription for life-saving medication.
Fuck him and his tiny little practice. After a little searching, I found a doctor who shares a building with several members of my care team, has the qualifications I'm looking for and lists one of his languages as "Egyptian (Ancient)." I think we're going to get along fine.
But this is one of the problems with the current state of the educational system. The schools do not produce graduates with the skills to handle a PreMed/Medical School track, and those that do manage to make it all the way to earning their M.D. are saddled with hundreds of thousands, if not millions in debt.
So here's my solution, since you all knew I had one. Let's cut the military budget by 15% and give that $105 billion to the schools. Better campuses, up to date technology, well-paid teachers. vocational programs, 0% college loans. All the things we need to do to make American schools the envy of the world. I included vocational training in there because for too long there;'s been an educational stigma against those who want to work with their hands. The world needs electricians and car mechanics.
The second part is how we train doctors and lawyers. Here's a plan. If you agree to serve in some capacity for four years after graduation; in the military, working on a reservation or legal aid clinic in an area that needs a lawyer, the government pays for your schooling. Obviously, there would need to be some more seasoned doctors and lawyers at these places, but if you really want to be a doctor, give four years working in a clinic in South Central or on the Pyramid Lake Reservation.
