I get a call this week from Maria, a “frustrated and disgusted” ob/gyn in Pennsylvania. I ask her how she found me. She says she dug out my article, one she’d been carrying around since 2007. After fifteen years in three employed hospital positions, she’s finally ready to quit assembly-line medicine.
Maria’s not alone. Studies confirm an epidemic of frustrated physicians. Can grumpy doctors provide health care? Are bad jobs bad for our health? Turns out a bad job can be worse than no job at all.
I’ve cured anxiety, panic attacks, depression, fibromyalgia, high blood pressure, and fatigue all with the same prescription: Quit your job.
Case in point: Amanda complains of a rapid heart rate. Hooked up to a 24-hour portable monitor, she demonstrates tachycardia at rest–only at work! At home she’s fine. So, of course, she fills my prescription.
Is it really my job to tell people to quit their jobs? Yes. Especially doctors. We’re role models for patients. Being healthy is our duty.
And babies deserve to be welcomed into the world by the happy hearts and smiley faces of people who love their jobs.
Ah — I know you asked for input before on this, I’d call it “fast food medicine.”
Regards,
Matt in Western PA
Solo FP since 2004
NEVER NEVER NEVER work for hospital again!!!
I’ve been seeing this, and doing this for years also. Most recent case in point, a 52 yo female with years of fatigue, and decreased sexual drive despite HRT, endless labs looking for issues, etc. Once she quit, everything resolved, she feels better than she has in years, and how could that NOT extend her lifespan!
I absolutely agree, after over 15 years of combining my love of volunteering in Africa with a practice that I find fullfilling, I have no regrets about not working for a hospital system. Visiting my elderly and disabled patients in their homes does not feel like work, it is like visiting family. You can follow your passion and still make a decent living.
I provide personalized healthcare services for physicians throughout the Southeast. As a consultant, I can tell you that every physician that I have met that has successfully converted to a concierge style practice, is infinately happier than they have ever been since they first became a physician. And as a patient, and a citizen, I am extremely pleased that more and more brave physicians are getting away from “fast-food medicine”, and are taking back the control of healthcare.