My Dad was a Doc....back in his day (60's, 70's) the General Practitioner did it all.The GP was just that....now you have different doctors for different needs. GP's no longer do surgery, ob/gyn, pediatrics, internal medicine, cardiology, emergency care, etc....it is the nature of the beast and Veterinary medicine is starting to go that way as well. Is this bad? NO....however, growing up with this kind of doctor in the family, I have a certain expectation from my doctors. My Dad took care of Amish and homebound families as well as the community. He had a dynamite sense of humor and was a very personable person. When he retired in the 80's I remember him telling me that between the government and insurance companies telling MD's what and what not they could do, practicing medicine was becoming more about the bottom line and less about treating the patient. He hated that and was glad to be getting out of the field.
I have had the fortune to have good doctors over the years.....despite the changes in medicine my father complained about. I had a wonderful GP in Oklahoma that was old school. He was on call at the ER when I was seriously kicked by a horse....my boss asked him if he was going to prescribe me pain killers....his answer was "no....I want her off that leg for seven days....if she has pain killers she will be working tomorrow"...how funny...I was anyways...but that would have been something my Dad would have said. The Veterinarian I now work for has the same mentality...the clients love him and he is a wonderful boss....but bedside manor is everything.
In Tennessee I had a couple great doctors as well.....they knew I didn't have insurance and helped me out. I was happy to see Drs that weren't all about the bottom line. A couple of years ago my boss and I picked up CoverTN. a good preventative insurance and though it has limits has been both affordable and decent.
I am not able to keep this short and to the point..sorry...doctors are not evil....they do care and having families themselves and being tied to the current system...they are human. I had to change GPs due to the one I have used for years wasn't didn't take CoverTN. I miss Dr. Murphey as a GP because she understood my financial situation and still provided good care. But why pay full price out of pocket when I can pay a co pay..... I do get defensive sometimes when I hear people bad mouth physicians. That is due to my Dad being one but my new GP office has walk in hours and have taken care of me just fine.
Getting long I know but a history was important for my point. In January I had appendicitis....didn't know it at the time but went to my GP office Saturday morning on walk in hours.....they sent me to the ER...the ER doc was great....the CT scan personelle was great......the GI doc on call that did my appendectomy was great....he is now my regular GI guy. Dr. Rangnekar was and still is a good physician and personable. (and did I mention that great vet I work for....I called in sick and he handled the whole morning single handed....)
Because of the CT scan for the appendix other issues were found. I always used my GP for annual female issues as well but found myself needing and OB/GYN surgeon. Dr. Rangnekar's office referred me to Dr. Glover and Bullen. Not only did Dr. Bullen take me seriously but addressed my concerns and was very interested in doing what was best for me. That meant sending me to another specialist in robotic surgery who was just moving his practice. Dr. Bullen had called me twice after hours to keep communication open, personally called Dr. Fields about my case, and that resulted in another great physician caring about my health. Dr. Fields is a primary surgeon in robotic surgery in this area and he and his team had taught several other physicians around the country. Dr. Bullen is new to robotic surgery but with Dr. Fields on hand will tackle me and my not-so-easy case....I feel confident about my future surgery with these two on hand. Dr. Fields is young for his expertise ...in his early 40's....but he is an expert and working with Dr. Bullen to make sure my care is right.
BOTH these guys at the end of a long day, took the time to call me after hours to follow up with my case....I have great faith in them and wish my Dad was still around so I could share with him that there are still good Docs out there despite the direction medicine has gone. I am about to go through a surgery that could have been more evasive and dangerous without the current Drs taking care of me. And when Dr. Fields called me tonight (two hours after his office closed and the day before a holiday) he informed me that Dr. Bullen already had dates in mind for my surgery....don't think for a minute that there aren't doctors out there that care!!! Dr. Bullen could have just said "we are going to cut you open and you will need two to three months recovery time".
Sorry so long....and this is my tech blog but being a Dr's kid I feel strongly about having great care!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment