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.

One of my sweetest patients is John, a man in his fifties with debilitating arthritis. He’s a fast-talking, anxious fellow who returned for some advice. He told me he wanted to stay active and volunteer, and was ready for the companionship of a good woman.

His blood pressure was higher than usual. I wrote two prescriptions. The first was a small dose of a beta-blocker for blood pressure and anxiety. The second prescription read: “John is a great guy. He needs a wonderful woman in his life. I highly recommend him.”

As I reviewed his instructions, he jumped up from the sofa and hugged me. I guess I’m old-fashioned. I still handwrite my prescriptions because what patients really need can never be prescribed electronically.

Pamela Wible MD (excerpt from Goddess Shift: Women Leading for a Change)

Breakthrough cure for pain: LOL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlyXoIql9hY

Have you laughed with your doctor lately? Share your story.

Enjoy year-round sunshine with a month paid vacation. Earn 300K plus production bonus. No state tax! No call! Daily I’m bombarded with glossy postcards promising the good life.

With so many options, why are physicians fleeing medicine? Some leave for teaching, waitressing, even homemaking. Others escape into administration, insurance or pharmaceutical positions. Many simply retire in despair.

Robert Centor, M.D., writes about our quiet rebellion: “This rebellion has no Glenn Beck or Sarah Palin; no Abbie Hoffman or Che Guevara. This rebellion occurs one physician at a time, as that physician finds continuing their practice undesirable.”

And the truth behind the exodus?

There can never be year-round sunshine for physicians working in an unjust health-care system. And $300,000 can never be enough to numb the pain of dedicating one’s life to a profession that has lost it’s soul. A month’s vacation can only distract us from our suffering for approximately thirty days.

Now is not the time for doctors to give up call, but to accept a call to action. Ours is a sacred obligation, a covenant with patients. America’s greatest dreams can never be delivered by politician-saviors. We are the saviors we’ve been waiting for.

Years ago, I stopped pursuing the elusive production bonus; I stepped off the treadmill to follow my heart. And I discovered to heal my patients, I had to first heal my profession. So I held town hall meetings where I invited citizens to create their ideal clinic. Celebrated since 2005, our model has sparked a populist movement: Americans are creating ideal clinics and hospitals nationwide. One hospital CEO now affectionately calls me “his MLK.”

More than a quiet rebellion, we need a non-violent social revolution led by America’s doctors. Medicine needs a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I think I’ll apply for the job.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4aWpjPtRwA

What do YOU think?