The local MD: Our Great Society

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Our Great Society

Don't get me wrong. I am usually as liberal as they come. I admire LBJ. I have visited his library no less than six times. Medicare, social security, civil rights, and all the other legislation from the mid-sixties are programs I believe in but...

I pause when the father of the baby I just delivered tells me this is his ninth child. How is this possible? Three babies with each of three women. Or I receive a 16 year old girl pregnant with her third child from a nearby psychiatric hospital. She was admitted there when she expressed her suicidal thoughts to another obstetrician. All three of her babies are the product of rape. The second child is dead. This child's father is 33 years old and thankfully in jail.

There is decay in this Great Society. Our cultures of greed, power, and lust* are eating away at the heart of our nation, killing our children. Not my children, you say. Think. How will your children cope with all those born in such circumstances as I have described?

*http://blog.sojo.net/2009/11/25/the-three-most-important-issues-what-the-manhattan-declaration-gets-wrong/

2 comments:

Unknown said...: Hi,

I am also an OB hospitalist. Have you seen my site?

Would you like to exchange links?

Rob

Dr Rob Olson M.D.
2950 Newmarket St. #101-261
Bellingham, WA
98226-3872
360-201-9066
Editor, http://obgynhospitalist.com/; December 17, 2009 at 1:13 PM
Anonymous said...: Dr. -
I wanted to leave a quick note to tell you that I read your blog often and appreciate your posts tremendously. Your experiences, and the compassion with which you approach them and relay them, are gripping and extraordinary. Thank you for taking the time to share what you see, and thank you for all that you do.

LH; December 29, 2009 at 11:23 PM

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The Local MD

Having now been a physician in private practice for twenty-one years, twenty-six days and about an hour and twenty minutes, it occurs to me that I have become what in medical school was often a derogatory term, the local MD.The presentation on rounds often went something like: "This 45 year old Caucasian male was seen last week by his LMD, and diagnosed with a viral upper respiratory infection..." At that point everyone knew that the LMD had missed the diagnosis. Otherwise the poor patient would not have ended up in a tertiary medical center with three consulting specialist, a fellow, a resident and four medical students at his bedside.What we, the medical students, the resident, the fellow and even the attending hospital physicians did not realize is that we would never know John Smith as well as the LMD. We would never speak to his wife using her first name. We would never be able to recall the names of all his children and know where they were in the world. We would never remember his favorite hobby let alone joke with him about it. Nor would we shed a heart felt tear when we gave him the diagnosis of the aggressive small cell carcinoma of the lung that had landed him in our midst and would kill him in less than three months despite our aggressive treatment that was the best medical science has to offer.At that point in my life I was very proud to be even the lowest ranking person on the team that was on the cutting edge of the diagnosis and the treatment of the gravest of conditions that plagued mankind. I felt so very lucky that I was being initiated in to this sacred fraternity. That I would soon be able to write "MD" after my name. I am still proud of my vocation yet I believe there is a wisdom that has only come with those twenty-years of practice.Today I realize what people want most of their physician is that he or she is someone who cares.Yes, we all want "everything medical science has to offer." Yet, what most of patients need is someone who will listen with their heart as well as with their head. Physician eyes are important, not only for seeing signs of disease in the body but for making contact with the patient's eyes where we are often allowed to see into their soul. All of the technology in the world will not replace a warm clasp of the hand or sitting at the bedside to share a few moments of the day along with the test results.So, I have created this blog. In large part it is a place for me to put my feelings. My hope is that at least some of these posts will resonate with others out there. Not just physicians, but others in caregiving vocations and even those for whom we care. If we are not here for each other then why are we here?

The local MD

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Our Great Society

2 comments:

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The local MD

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Our Great Society

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The Local MD