Friday, March 10, 2006

The Business of Medicine

Ooo...angrydoc is really angry today...

Like it or not, Medicine is a business now.

13 comments:

Dr Oz bloke said...

Remember I said "I think the day has come and passed already." ?

sigh.

Dr Oz bloke said...

It's not going to help also with medical students like Ang Yee Gary having such straight business views of medicine.

It's scary isn't it? These are how medical administrators view our field. And MOH is filled with people like them. They make the policies.

We're dead meat.

aliendoc said...

Unfortunately, not many doctors with "field experience" are willing to join the MOH & possibly "help" TPTB to come up with practical policies that would help not only the patients but also the doctors. Can't blame them really, for not wanting to join, as oftentimes, politics also gets in the way of making good sensible decisions...

Anonymous said...

if it makes everyone feel better, i can state with some confidence that gary's view's do not find acceptance amongst the vast, avst majority of our batch, nor of the junior batches.

that being said, he will sadly progress to be an administrator one day - no better than the administrators we have now; notice how they already speak in the same language.

i've always, however, been a big fan of the notion that we CAN control our own destiny, and the fate of medicine - if we would only stand up and speak out in one united voice.

what are the odds?

Dr Oz bloke said...

Hey DM,

So you know Gary Ang Yee personally? He's in your M5 class right?

Is he one of those "oddfellows"? I guess every batch has them.

Or is he one of the high flier, Dean's List kind of students.

Scary thinking he's going to be a leader on the nation someday! But perhaps that's how the present leaders are! Birds of a feather flock together.

Anonymous said...

yup, one of my classmates, though he's still not the weirdest of the oddballs, not by a long shot.

he's not one of the high-flying, top-scoring dean's listers, definitely. i suppose that a large part of my batch see him as someone who's basically harmless but a little dotty... personally, i think that we're at the age where being a little dotty is more than enough to bring about serious repercussions upon the people around us and, because of the position we find ourselves in the community, society at large as well.

and i think that he's not "just a little bit dotty", but frighteningly wrapped up in the idea that money is the be-all and end-all, the all-purpose solution, and the reason for everything.

You're right - it IS a acary thought!

Anonymous said...

What is wrong in earning money to help the poor?

The two clusters would be bankrupt if doctors have their ways.

sad but true. Administrators would always be the bad guys they guys who make sure patients pay and not social stay.

aliendoc said...

Nothing wrong with earning money...it's HOW you earn the money. If doctors start thinking that making big bucks is the be all & end all of practising medicine, then I think we are in big trouble.

Anonymous said...

I beg to differ. If the doctors who want to earn money cease to be doctors, then whoever is left (if there is any), will definitely be doing medicine for the right reason.

Isn't this better for a profession which used to be for nobles when the nobles are more interested in helping their patients rather than earning money from them?

So is medical tourism wrong? Is it wrong to treat foreign patients so as to subsidize the local patients?
I am truly disturbed by the fact that even if one earns money to help the poor, it is still wrong.

aliendoc said...

Huh??? Maybe I'm being dense here, but I really don't get what you are trying to say. I don't recall saying in my post that medical tourism is wrong. Neither did I say that helping the poor is wrong. It's HOW you earn the money - that's the issue we worry about.

To use a glaringly obvious analogy to clarify my point: a gangster can extort tons of money, or a bank robber can rob millions of dollars and then subsequently donate a portion of their "earnings" to their favourite charity. Is this method of earning money right or wrong?

Dr Oz bloke said...

Sigh. Gary, let it go. Why are you going around posting all this?

In the end just do what you want to do. You don't have to answer to anybody but yourself. If you are happy with whatever you are doing, then do it.

On the other hand, you can't expect everyone to agree with you and follow what you are doing or endorse your views.

I believe things will change as you go through life. Things change when you start working. You see different things. Different things happen to you. You fall in love, things change. You might decide to get married. You might not. Things change. You might be heartbroken. You might be married and have children. Things change. You love your children and you plan for them. Things change.

So in the end don't take life so seriously; no one gets out alive anyway.

I always console myself that being "over the hill" is much better than being under it!

Anonymous said...

Are u comparing doctors who are "glorified beauticians" to gangster? One is legal, the other is not.

Are beauticians less noble than doctors?

It is sad that u think lowly of "glorified beauticians" but again u are entitled to yr opinion.

There is no need to be so defensive. Instead put yrself in their shoes, not everybody has the luxury of a busy practice, there are those clinics that are empty in my neighbour, are they wrong in providing for their familes?

I may not agree with u but i wil fight to the death yr right to reply.

aliendoc said...

Sigh....I think it's time to put this argument to rest when attempts to explain oneself is attributed to defensiveness & words are misconstrued (deliberately?).

This blog is meant to be an avenue of expression...."The World As I Know It"...keyword 'I', meaning me, myself. It is not meant to be a battleground. Users are free to NOT read what I write if they feel that they do not share the same sentiments, or feel offended by what I write.