The case against family medicine

[futureGP]

How many times do I have to reiterate this has nothing to do with money...

 

dude it's not an issue if you have a problem with a certain career,

 

really all u gotta do is switch and do neurosurgery since prestige is something so important to you.

 

idk what the point of starting a thread called 'the case against family medicine' and potentially offending several others on this thread who like family medicine as a career

 

geez

[futureGP]

LOPLOLOLOLOLOLOLO

 

omg that was funny. I love when immigrants and lower class people say ignorant things like that.

 

wtf is that dude

[apache]

i respect fm docs who really are on top of things, that takes a lot of dedication... you can also always add a plus 1 and supplement your skills... i want to be the best in the fields i enjoy... being a member of an "elite specialty" would mean much less to me than being the best in one of the few i was really passionate about... if i was a family doc, i think i'd branch out and work in health policy, administration, government, ways to improve preventative care... iuno.. nothing personal, but the day to day urban fm walk in clinic doesn't appeal so much, i can;t help it, i get bored easy... then again, being a neurosurgeon isn't somthing i'd like either.... the key is to be happy with yourself... i like pyschiatry (albeit now that biological advances seem like a daily occurence (probably mixed with the fact that i'd be way to burned out to deal with any of the old school therapy stuff anymore)... neuro, especially behavioral neuro... so yeah, not super prestigious, but im pretty brilliant when it comes to the two, because i'm passionate, and my mind seems to think in a manner commensurate to excelling in either... so yeah, i could care less what some mediocre cardiologist thinks about my skill set, worth, or whatever... for me i respect more the effort people put in,but that's just me

 

It has been a long time since I last posted on this forum. I am currently a family medicine resident, and while residency life is relaxing and pleasant in general, and jobs are plentiful in the field, I believe there is a reason why many shy away from the field. If I could choose all over again, I would stay far away from the field. Here is why:

 

Your peers don`t respect you

Everyone who gets accepted to medical school, by and large, are type A personality types (myself included). We all want to be the best of the best, neurosurgeons, cardiologists, plastic surgeons, you name it- family doctors just do not measure up to that. Often times you strike up a conversation with other residents, and when they find out you`re in family medicine, they say ``We definitely need you guys...we need good family doctors for sure`` with an arrogant air. When you`re a family doctor, be prepared for specialists to feel superior to you when talking (despite how unjustified it may be).

 

Your patients don`t respect you

In my experience, patients only rarely come to you for pressing medical concerns. They usually come to you to get something very routine done. For example, getting their medications refilled, annual physical, PAP smears, warts frozen off, getting a work note etc. That`s a significant amount of your practice. They know and you know it doesn`t take a mental giant to do that. And when big problems come up- it`s time for referral to the ``smart ones`. It often times feels as though you`re their homeroom teacher, while the specialists are the ones teaching calculus, physics, and english literature.

 

The public doesn`t respect you

I realize that the public by which I mean your friends, acquaintances etc are often in awe when a person gets into medicine. That`s because of their potential to be a trauma surgeon or something prestigious. Once they find out you`re in family medicine, the wow factor and prestige is gone instantly. I have, some time back, gone on dates with a girl who was a starbucks barista, who asked me ``why family``- with the clear question of - why that and not something greater. The unfulfilled potential will forever haunt you.

 

Family medicine doesn`t respect itself

Recently friends have posted an article, written by a family doctor- you may have seen it, entitled ``Are you going to specialize, or just a gp``. I find self defending articles about respect and being a ``specialist in the person`` and ``specialist in general practice`` quite embarrassing actually. Insecurity seems to abound amongst family practitioners

 

You don`t respect yourself

I don`t truly mean this, but had to go along with the previous headings (lol). I is difficult to be a generalist. The field is just too broad, and it is impossible to know everything. In trying to know everything about everything, you end up knowing nothing. Specialists will always know much more than you in every given subject. Also, since specialists all have their own little area, you, the GP will be left with the scraps. Namely random presenting complaints that no one will ever know like random tingling sensations on a patch of skin or flushing ear wax.

[SmokedSalmon]

Just read this lovely memoir from a family physician in Toronto:

 

http://www.torontolife.com/informer/columns/2013/10/18/memoir-jailhouse-doc/

 

 

I believe this presents a decent example for those who are looking for something special in the GP career path.

 

Making a seemingly dull career (and life) meaningful is, at the end of the day, up to the individual

[frenziedmalady]

Ha - yeah basically

 

WOW! Amazing humility. I wish to have humility that could come half close to yours'.

[rogerroger]

Just read this lovely memoir from a family physician in Toronto:

 

http://www.torontolife.com/informer/columns/2013/10/18/memoir-jailhouse-doc/

 

 

I believe this presents a decent example for those who are looking for something special in the GP career path.

 

Making a seemingly dull career (and life) meaningful is, at the end of the day, up to the individual

 

The beauty, ambiguity, and "stigma" around FM all stems from that fact that it is what you make of it. Much more so than another specialty. If you want to be a "referologist" you can. Good luck enjoying that career... If you want to carve out a very unique niche for yourself the "world can be your oyster". The spectrum is so very wide.

[Dongzhuo]

It has been a long time since I last posted on this forum. I am currently a family medicine resident, and while residency life is relaxing and pleasant in general, and jobs are plentiful in the field, I believe there is a reason why many shy away from the field. If I could choose all over again, I would stay far away from the field. Here is why:

 

Your peers don`t respect you

Everyone who gets accepted to medical school, by and large, are type A personality types (myself included). We all want to be the best of the best, neurosurgeons, cardiologists, plastic surgeons, you name it- family doctors just do not measure up to that. Often times you strike up a conversation with other residents, and when they find out you`re in family medicine, they say ``We definitely need you guys...we need good family doctors for sure`` with an arrogant air. When you`re a family doctor, be prepared for specialists to feel superior to you when talking (despite how unjustified it may be).

 

Your patients don`t respect you

In my experience, patients only rarely come to you for pressing medical concerns. They usually come to you to get something very routine done. For example, getting their medications refilled, annual physical, PAP smears, warts frozen off, getting a work note etc. That`s a significant amount of your practice. They know and you know it doesn`t take a mental giant to do that. And when big problems come up- it`s time for referral to the ``smart ones`. It often times feels as though you`re their homeroom teacher, while the specialists are the ones teaching calculus, physics, and english literature.

 

The public doesn`t respect you

I realize that the public by which I mean your friends, acquaintances etc are often in awe when a person gets into medicine. That`s because of their potential to be a trauma surgeon or something prestigious. Once they find out you`re in family medicine, the wow factor and prestige is gone instantly. I have, some time back, gone on dates with a girl who was a starbucks barista, who asked me ``why family``- with the clear question of - why that and not something greater. The unfulfilled potential will forever haunt you.

 

Family medicine doesn`t respect itself

Recently friends have posted an article, written by a family doctor- you may have seen it, entitled ``Are you going to specialize, or just a gp``. I find self defending articles about respect and being a ``specialist in the person`` and ``specialist in general practice`` quite embarrassing actually. Insecurity seems to abound amongst family practitioners

 

You don`t respect yourself

I don`t truly mean this, but had to go along with the previous headings (lol). I is difficult to be a generalist. The field is just too broad, and it is impossible to know everything. In trying to know everything about everything, you end up knowing nothing. Specialists will always know much more than you in every given subject. Also, since specialists all have their own little area, you, the GP will be left with the scraps. Namely random presenting complaints that no one will ever know like random tingling sensations on a patch of skin or flushing ear wax.

 

Just wanted to update on this thread and bring this to a conclusion. I will be doing a plus one year in emergency medicine, and will probably be doing that solely. I am pretty happy with that, and am glad that in the end, the 5 issues I have raised with the specialty of family medicine have been rectified with this one year of extra training.

[dentopia11]

interesting how Maslow's hierarchy of needs is ever evident today as it was when he first came up with it.

[ER scrub]

Just wanted to update on this thread and bring this to a conclusion. I will be doing a plus one year in emergency medicine, and will probably be doing that solely. I am pretty happy with that, and am glad that in the end, the 5 issues I have raised with the specialty of family medicine have been rectified with this one year of extra training.

 

How does this solve the problem of being respected when there's the FRCP docs around who have done more emerg training? How does this not mindfcuk you everyday?

 

I'm not trying to be a jerk, but if I was going for the 2+1 and wanted to practice emerg solely, this would bother me, and you've already stated being bothered in FM by not being respected. So have you found a way around this?

[Dongzhuo]

How does this solve the problem of being respected when there's the FRCP docs around who have done more emerg training? How does this not mindfcuk you everyday?

 

I'm not trying to be a jerk, but if I was going for the 2+1 and wanted to practice emerg solely, this would bother me, and you've already stated being bothered in FM by not being respected. So have you found a way around this?

 

I see where you are coming from and no it does not mind **** me at all. I care about how the world at large views me, and to the world I will be an emerg doc. Many ER nurses even dont know the 3 and 5 year difference. There are ma y benefits as well to the third year, namely being able to transition myself back to family practice as I enter my fifties and also 2 years of high income. Its like buying a slightly used Porsche vs a brand new one- on the putside its viewed as one and the same, only one comes at a discount and very few know the difference

[tooty]

Moved the 2+1 EM discussion to a stuck thread in the primary care forum. This one has run its course.

 

http://premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79475