5 Comments

"How can you have a calling when you barely have a clue?"

Great post. Appreciated your perspective on the overuse of the word "calling" when describing becoming a physician. Nurses and teachers often have the word "calling" used for their profession as well, and to your point, these are professions where personal sacrifice is expected.

Expand full comment

Thanks Ben... my commentary below on the WSJ article.

Since seeing my first OR at four years of age, being a doctor was always a calling for me. Anniversary dinners, birthday parties, and even holidays with my family, have been cut short with call from the hospital about a sick patient. The long hours, little or no sleep, and at times, an overwhelming number of patients, was our duty to see through, in the name of patient care.

I am both reflective and sympathetic – as a surgeon I was less available for my family, and even when I was physically there, I was not always present; my pager or cellphone always took precedence.

We must do better… if our physicians are not healthy, how can they be at their best for their patients?

Expand full comment
author

Rajesh, appreciate the comment and insights. Completely agree. It took me some time to figure out the right balance between work, family, and side gigs. I recognized that, even if I didn't notice, my family was acutely aware when I was present but not "present." I'm thankful my wife has a medical background and understands the demands. One of my passions has become figuring out how we develop care delivery models that aren't just great for patients -- they're great for doctors too. That's my calling.

Expand full comment

I greatly enjoy how you can step back and look at things from a little distance even though you are knee deep in it.

I agree with much of your take on this but would also challenge that again maybe we aren't asking the right questions. If we decide that being a physician isn't a calling but rather simply a jobber we as patients and a society ready to accept that as well?

If being a physician is simply a job then it should be reasonable that those that are better at it should get paid more. Are we ready to accept a model that those with money get better care? Are we as patients and society ready to accept that if I'm a higher risk lower profit I get bumped for the more straight forward higher profit case? Are we ready to accept that if the day runs long and our case doesn't get to the OR by 5 that we get moved to the next day or available slot or that we get charged time and a half for "overtime".

We continue to focus on "fixing" healthcare from the physician perspective when the reality of whats broken is all those that have "job" profiting off the work . Those that say healthcare is too complex to fix are those that are adding the complexity. Those that say they wish to fix burnout are those that are adding the burnout. I literally know 1000s of doctors I spend hours with them and not once have I heard a surgeon say "if I have to do one more rotator cuff or total knee or heart bypass ..... I'm going to explode" I do consistently hear "if I have to do one more preauthorization or one more peer review with someone whose never seen my patient or if have to log onto one more useless EMR.

If we really wish to fix this we need to start Fromm the physician patient and work up not from the revenue down.

Expand full comment
author

Agree. That's what I've come to understand after 15 years and practice and the work I've done with healthcare startups. It absolutely has to start at the most basic level, the doctor-patient relationship, and go from there. That's become my passion and my calling. Excited about the work Commons is doing here.

Expand full comment