Obama and Healthcare

Obama claims that "trickle-down economics" does not work, but he is wrong. It can work, and benefit physicians. It just currently is not. Hear me out.

Providing tax-breaks to big businesses does not currently benefit the lay-person. However eliminating these tax breaks all together will force businesses to lay-off employees and/or raise prices. How does this help anyone?

Obama should maintain tax-breaks to companies as an incentive. My idea: Companies can keep their tax breaks as long as they provide full health insurance coverage to employees.

This is a win-win situation. Companies keep their tax breaks, jobs are kept, and more Americans have insurance plans. Is this not genius?

Mr. Obama - I am waiting for your call to be your economic/healthcare stimulus plan advisor.

Medical Student Burnout

I recently read this article (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/31/health/chen10-30.html?_r=1&oref=slogin), and I can definitely understand where the author is coming from. Medical school is not easy and often not fun. Sometimes I wonder why certain faculty are allowed to teach or why students interested in family medicine (or many other things) spend hours on their surgery rotation retracting when they could be learning.

A lot of medical school is simply putting-up with tedious hospital/clinic duties that have no educational relevance. My recommendation: bring a good book with you wherever you go.

Are there good/happy aspects to medical school - of course. When I get to see patients on my own, I learn whether or not I get the diagnosis correct. I wish all faculty would let students first see every patient on their own. It facilitates learning. I also love getting to see patients respond to treatment, and nothing is better than "high fives" from 5 year olds in pediatrics.

There is also ample time for fun if you aren't too Type A to relax every once in awhile. I recently went to Las Vegas over the weekend to watch TCU demolish UNLV. Go Frogs! I also lost about $100 in the process. Gambling is not for me apparently. I plan on watching the Frogs destroy Utah tomorrow on CBSSports. Can TCU go BCS this year? I hope so!

Still considering Ivy league over state school?

For those still considering the idea of attending an Ivy league/expensive private school over a cheap state school, read http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/16/pf/young_doctors.moneymag/index.htm .

The numbers are shocking! I am so glad I went to state school right now. I'll be able to pay off all of my debt by the end of residency (hopefully!).

For those that want the Ivy league name, attend a state school for medical school and do your residency wherever you want. It is very possible.

Medical Specialty Poll Results

My poll recently ended, and the question was ---- "What is the most important factor in choosing a medical specialty?" Personal interest was the leading factor pulling two-thirds of the votes. The remaining one-third of the votes chose lifestyle as the leading factor. There was 1 outlier that chose money - thank you for your honesty.

I found these results interesting because I have only heard 2 things from current practicing physicians - choose what you enjoy or choose the most lucrative field you can. I haven't ever been told to choose the field with the best lifestyle.

While many fields can be tailored to meet any lifestyle, I can definitely understand why this is such an important factor. I think medicine is the only field where someone can work 60 hours in residency and say that it wasn't a bad week. I often talk to my high school friends, and they all seem to be "living" more than I am. For the record, I still wouldn't choose any other profession.

I will probably try to find some sort of happy medium between personal interest and lifestyle. I think it will be easier for me because I seem to enjoy more fields than I dislike.

For those that aren't in their clinical years of medical school yet, keep your mind open to everything. When you actually get to experience the every-day feel of a specialty, it is often times much different than you thought.