Now, I’m just a country doctor, but I have to say I find it very hard to understand why folks in this country, on one hand, keep talking about a doctor shortage in primary care and, on the other hand, keep piling sillywork on those of us who are still here.

The net effect is that the doctor shortage is going to be a whole lot worse than it has to be.

But it may just be a relative or imaginary shortage because of how this country defines the duties of doctors.

Public health agendas have infiltrated health care to a degree that threatens to paralyze it. Physicians are increasingly told their primary concern should be their “population” and not their individual patients. We are charged with preventing disease rather than treat it.

But …

Public health clinics regularly provide travelers with necessary immunizations. Pharmacists are now giving pneumonia and shingles shots on prescription and flu shots without. States are mandating immunizations for children, and penalizing physician practices with low immunization rates. There are whole departments within every level of Government trying to get people tho behave in healthier ways.

Why should we take the heat for something you don’t need a medical license to do?

A physician’s duty is first and foremost to serve each patient’s needs in treating actual disease. Isn’t that what people worry about when they imagine how a physician shortage would affect them?

Let’s think:

Who would worry that with a physician shortage, they wouldn’t get their flu shot?

Who would worry that there would be nobody to tell them to lose weight, stop smoking and eat less junk food?

Who would worry that there would be nobody to screen them for alcohol misuse or domestic abuse?

Who would worry that they’d be at risk for tripping on their scatter rug because there is no doctor to talk with them about their fall risk?

On the other hand:

You’ve had a cough for a month, and you’re short of breath. Who will diagnose your symptoms?

You have a nosebleed that won’t stop by itself. Who will cauterize it for you?

You have diabetes and can’t control your blood sugar with diet alone. Who will prescribe the right medicine for you?

You’ve become increasingly depressed and are at risk of losing your job because of your symptoms. Your therapist suggests you consider medication. Who will prescribe it for you?

America, the choice is yours: What is the best use of your primary care physicians’ time if there aren’t enough of us to be everything for everyone?

“A Country Doctor” is a family physician who blogs at A Country Doctor Writes:.

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