As politicians talk about Medicare for All and Single Payer Health Care, I wish at least one of the politicians had some medical training. They have no idea of what a terrible mess we could have with either of these. I certainly believe that everyone in American deserves the best healthcare possible. However, even though there have been some remarkable advances, particularly in surgical devices that allow procedures such as hip and other replacements, there has been a great decline in personal care, compassion and good old-fashioned medicine. I greatly miss seeing my babies, children, and teenagers as I did when I was in practice, but I would not tolerate all the paperwork and regulations that are now required of physicians.
Now we are seeing too many suicides and depression among medical students, young and older doctors. The joy of really getting to know your patients and being an important part of their lives is mostly gone, except perhaps in small towns, as in the Midwest. Many medical schools are turning out graduates who have no training in the art of medicine, but they do know how to click boxes on a computer. Money is the driving force for many of these students, as we can see from the number choosing cosmetic dermatology. They won't have night or weekend calls and can make very large amounts of money. Nurses are not being given much information about physical diagnosis, even those who become nurse practitioners. I have seen some serious results because of this. Some nurses are choosing to become hospital administrators and this too can create major problems. A caring, compassion nurse is worth his or her weight in gold. Some nurses have minimal training and then if they become nurse practitioners they are often seeing patients without an M.D's supervision. In many states now they can both see patients without a doctor's supervision and write prescriptions. With the shortage of doctors that is envisioned, nurse practitioners will take over a great deal of medical practice. Kaiser already allows this.
