Thursday, June 12, 2008

Feeling the Pain

I only read this article written by SMA President Dr Wong Chiang Yin this morning. Thanks to the wonderfully efficient China postal service, I only just received my APRIL SMA News yesterday afternoon. Grrr.

Anyway, Dr Wong gives a very detailed overview of what kinds of obstacles & risks GP's face when they take on Managed Care contracts. This article reinforces the disillusionment that I was starting to face when I first contemplated stepping away from clinical practice a few years ago. It makes me wonder how my GP colleagues can "tahan" the day to day slog of having to deal with all this c**p, & at the same time try to make a decent living. And I can see why the lure of aesthetic medicine is all the more appealing.

In another article in the May issue of the SMA News (which I had to read online, otherwise I would have to wait till July to get the hard copy), Dr Wong talks about the pain that is being felt by the Medical profession in Singapore. He writes optimistically that, with the SMA, we will be able to work through & learn from the pain.

Me? I think I am more skeptical than him in this respect. The SMA alone cannot do it. They have to get buy-in from The Powers That Be. Otherwise, they will fight a losing battle.

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