Medical Bias

Here is a interesting article, which kind of explain my feeling when i choose to be a GP, really why people are so god damn nuisence always using that view of theirs to judge others, dont they know we have our own lives too, stop irritating others for christ sake. I now do beleive we this few are better people then the rest, no wonder we had more blessings from him compare to others.

Sorry, now here is the article, hope those idiots will know how to pay somemore respect. If any of u feel offended, well be so because that is my purpose of posting this.

A Fork in the Road: General or Specialty Medicine?

Posted 11/08/2007

Monica Kidd, BSc, MSc
Author Information

In scuba diving, the most challenging part is navigating the boundary between sea and sky. On the surface, one is a creature of air; below it, the magic of breathing under water quickly takes over. In between is a time of panicked breaths, blind faith, and gravity. I feel a little like this now.

I have finished my core clerkship rotations, and I'm currently doing an elective rotation in emergency medicine. I came to Calgary for this rotation; because back home, we (happily) just don't see much in the way of gunshot wounds and shock trauma. Here, I've treated a tattoo artist just released from a 2-day kidnapping with broken bones and knife wounds. I've tended to a 20-something hit-and-run victim from West Africa who was on her way to her morning housekeeping job. I've cared for a guy who was shot coming out of a video rental store, and another guy whose parachute didn't open in time. I've done a musculoskeletal exam on a guy in shackles, and I've witnessed the after-effects of bar brawls and car accidents too numerous to mention. It's been good -- for learning, I mean.

But I am distracted. It's the time of year when we start applying for residencies, and I can no longer delay my choice. I entered medical school wanting to pursue family medicine. Frankly, I was quite suspicious of my colleagues who declared from day 1 that they wanted to be this kind of specialist or another. How could they possibly have any idea? I wondered.

As the years ticked on, however, the subtle (and not so subtle) biases of the medical education system began to burrow under my skin: specialists who insult family doctors, and insinuate that they are lazy; specialists who insult emergency room doctors for not ordering all possible diagnostic tests before consulting; a residency system that devalues general practice by requiring the least amount of training for the practitioners whose knowledge has to be the broadest. No one wants to bleed and limp and sweat through medical school only to be perceived as the dumb kid after graduation.

Seriously, this is the nonsense I've been dealing with.

I've been realizing some things out here, away from the hothouse of my day-to-day life. The emergency department is a gold mine of diagnostic challenges; in this town, patients can't be admitted to the hospital without a diagnosis, which means that we in the ED get to have the fun. Also, at least part of every shift is spent treating acute flares of chronic illnesses that could have been avoided with a bit more follow-up in a family doctor's office. Looking at someone who's been parked in the waiting room for 6 hours, tired, scared, and in pain, makes prevention seem kind of sexy again.

There are other factors. This elective has been shift work, and -- call me a slacker -- I've been able to spend time away from medicine in my off-hours. I went on an overnight visit to some friends' farm, drank local beer at their kitchen table, fed their horses, and ate buffalo steak for supper before falling asleep on their couch to the tick of a WWII grandfather clock. I drove home to see my parents, and went out to visit our local Hutterite friends to buy some honey and beeswax. I've done readings in 3 cities from my new book of poetry. I had a long, lazy breakfast with a friend who is just finishing her PhD, and spent an afternoon wandering with another friend who is just starting hers.

I have done some of the things I enjoyed before medical school began to take up all the oxygen in my life. It clears my head and makes me see how ridiculous the baggage is that I've acquired about general practice through my -- ER -- indoctrination.

Last week, I filled out my residency application and put down "Family Medicine."

I have taken my first deep breath in months.