Apparently, by taking a pen, doctors have “self-inflicted” our wounds.
Below is a response I’m sharing, from inside the comment section of a post by Guy Culpepper, MD. In it, he describes today’s state of medicine, in which many feel trapped.
I’m dumbfounded to read a response like this and, even more so, to see the support it received (through “likes”); especially in an entrepreneurial platform like LinkedIn.
What other profession is scrutinized to the degree medicine is?
What other field is so heavily regulated that taking a pen from a company, or a meal, equates to having your name publicly listed, alongside the monetary equivalent?
“What other field is so heavily regulated that taking a pen from a company, or a meal, equates to having your name publicly listed, alongside the monetary equivalent?”
How would our hard-working doctors – who are abused regularly inside a system that controls them – be better off if they said no to incentives of the industry? Yes, like a pen. How is that related in any way to what’s being stated here? Does anyone really believe the insinuation that because doctors take a pen from pharma, or a lunch for staff, that they cause the abuse to themselves?
Don’t get me wrong, I fully understand the implications of “sway”. But it just seems odd to me that no one calls out the pharma side. Like, ever. Just the doc. No one seems to want to acknowledge that prices of meds have been driven up; nor that working with pharma could mean being able to provide patients with coupons and samples. And again, how is all of this related to self-infliction? And is anyone else out there scrutinized to the degree that we are?
"What other profession is scrutinized to the degree medicine is?"
When folks make statements like these, are they at all aware of how healthcare works? Have they worked a day in our shoes? I always wonder. Or is it just assumption made, from the outside looking in?
I do believe part of the solution involves a mirror. But not for the reasons he states.
We may have self-inflicted some of the wounds, but not by taking a pen, no. The state of affairs evolved into this because we have been too kind.
“We may have self-inflicted some of the wounds, but not by taking a pen, no. The state of affairs evolved into this because we have been too kind.”
Because we have given into a system that we thought would provide comfort and happiness, but which has instead exploited us. Because we always have the patient’s back, even when they think the worst of us (as exemplified by this reply).
We have trusted others. Remained kind. Got taken advantage of. That’s the nutshell of what has taken place in healthcare.
We have maintained our empathy for patients & this is part of why we are where we are today. Because we don’t wish to leave them high and dry. It is why you don’t see us massively striking – because we wouldn’t want to see patients suffer.
And yes, blame is to be had. Even if the solution is to pick ourselves up by our white coats, brush off the dirt, and start fighting – learning marketing, entrepreneurship, strategy, IP – all necessary in the world of today to take back our autonomy.
But no, a pen is not at all at the root cause of why we are burned out.
