In my country, patients will go to the public healthcare unit at 4 AM in the morning in order to try and get an appointment. It opens at 8 AM and by that time there'll be a queue of about 30 people. Doctors are expected to see them all before 11 AM. Such is life in "family medicine", theoretically a medical specialty but mostly filled with doctors who just graduated medical school and who are looking to make some money before they start residency which pays a pitiful "scholarship" and is essentially indentured servitude anyway. There's barely any time to do anything more complex than chief complaint or chronic disease management.
It's funny because it's the complete opposite of what family medicine was supposed to be. The doctors were supposed to live and work in those towns so they could get to know the population and form stronger bonds with the community. Instead, they either burn out quickly or move on to far better working environments, specialization or not. Some of these public healthcare units don't even have sinks you can use to wash your hands.
It's funny because it's the complete opposite of what family medicine was supposed to be. The doctors were supposed to live and work in those towns so they could get to know the population and form stronger bonds with the community. Instead, they either burn out quickly or move on to far better working environments, specialization or not. Some of these public healthcare units don't even have sinks you can use to wash your hands.