It's important to stop calling them by the generic name doctors.
They are Physicians.
There are lots of doctors, but only one group has spent 300,000,000 dollars on limiting competition and propping their own profession with exclusive privileges.
Occasionally, I start to think I’ve left the grounds of mediocre and may even be a good writer. Then, I read someone like Steinbeck and understand that I have many decades of mediocrity ahead of me. This is a good thing...:)
Steinbeck is amazing. He would recite his books as he wrote them - he believed that words were meant to be spoken. He wrote for the spoken word rather than the written word. I also saw a few pages of his revisions on one of his books - he revised his "standard" sentences into "colorful" sentences. So his writing was definitely a result of hard work and creativity - and in my mind moves his writings into the realm of true art.
One neat trick I use to assess doctors is look at their legal history. These records are all public, and your local court probably has them searchable online[1]. I wouldn't avoid a doctor just because they've been sued, but a bunch of malpractice suits are a bit of a red flag.
Primary care is so much about forming a lifelong relationship between doctor and patient, finding a way for the patient to inject their own hopes, worries, dreams feels so important, and beyond the proscribed tick boxes.
My primary doctor is a nice person but she's a busy professional and I'm not going to waste her time talking about my hopes and dreams. That stuff is almost entirely irrelevant for most medical issues.
Unless your goals are physical in nature(I want to be able to check the mail again or otherwise return to a level of mobility, become a body builder...etc) I see very little benefit.
"I want to not die, and if I must, preferably at a later date." About sums it up.
My problem is when doctors are rushed, I can't really communicate with them effectively. Probably 90% of what I feel like telling a doctor is useless to them, but that last 10% could be vital.
We have a cult of "busy-ness" in our culture, where if you're busy, you must be important. But "busy" is not the same as effective.
Maybe they could more effectively treat patients if they slowed down a beat with them.
If you're wealthy enough you can sign up for a concierge medicine service and get exactly that. But it's simply impossible to deliver that level of service to the general population. There wouldn't be enough primary care doctors to go around (we already have shortages in many areas) and there's no realistic way to fund drastically expanding the number of doctors any time soon.
I think primary care should be more about the doctor using his knowledge of the patient's lifestyle, gained over time, as context for proper diagnosis and treatment. Empathy without competence is sort of pointless from a medical professional. IMO, of course.
I have multiple chronic life threatening illnesses. I dread switching care providers. Continuity of care is key to my survival. My primary recently switched to a concierge model, $50/mo and consults are open ended, which has been fantastic for me.
The sweet spot for choosing a new primary doctor is late 30s. Recent schooling means more up to date knowledge. And you can age well together.
Some exceptions, of course. My proctologist and neurosurgeon are the best in my city. I've had terrible luck with dermatologists.
I wonder what kind of life you lead in which it could be meaningful to imagine having a "lifelong relationship" with any given medical practicioner. That just isn't... I mean, my health insurance situation changes often enough that it's a new network almost as often as I ever have to go see a doctor.
If I remember correctly Steinbeck's doctor was a friend from his days at Stanford. So we aren't talking about traditional doctor/patient relationships.
They are Physicians.
There are lots of doctors, but only one group has spent 300,000,000 dollars on limiting competition and propping their own profession with exclusive privileges.
That's Physicians!