Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
KevinMD
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking
KevinMD
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking
  • About KevinMD | Kevin Pho, MD
  • Be heard on social media’s leading physician voice
  • Contact Kevin
  • Discounted enhanced author page
  • DMCA Policy
  • Establishing, Managing, and Protecting Your Online Reputation: A Social Media Guide for Physicians and Medical Practices
  • Group vs. individual disability insurance for doctors: pros and cons
  • KevinMD influencer opportunities
  • Opinion and commentary by KevinMD
  • Physician burnout speakers to keynote your conference
  • Physician Coaching by KevinMD
  • Physician keynote speaker: Kevin Pho, MD
  • Physician Speaking by KevinMD: a boutique speakers bureau
  • Primary care physician in Nashua, NH | Kevin Pho, MD
  • Privacy Policy
  • Recommended services by KevinMD
  • Terms of Use Agreement
  • Thank you for subscribing to KevinMD
  • Thank you for upgrading to the KevinMD enhanced author page
  • The biggest mistake doctors make when purchasing disability insurance
  • The doctor’s guide to disability insurance: short-term vs. long-term
  • The KevinMD ToolKit
  • Upgrade to the KevinMD enhanced author page
  • Why own-occupation disability insurance is a must for doctors

Medicine is not a business: a poem

Drea Burbank, MD
Physician
October 30, 2021
Share
Tweet
Share

Medicine is not a business
You fools.

Healing is your blueprint, activated
to complete itself.

A doctor does not broker it,
The best anyone can do is align you
With what you should be,
And stay out of the way.

(Like a teenager setting off an illegal firecracker.)

Mostly, you pay the doctor for the alignment,
And the nurse
To keep the doctor out of the way.

If you’re not ready,
to get on with the business of what you should be,
You come back later.
Or, maybe, next lifetime.

It’s not complicated.
And it’s not a business.
You fools.

The doctor knows what you should be,
when they know what they are,

And if they don’t
And the nurse can’t tell them,
You come back later,
Or, maybe, next lifetime.

It’s simple, but
It’s not easy,
And it’s not a business you fools.

I’ve seen it, GNP and recurring revenue and prayers so many pairs of high-intervention end-of-life care.

It’s cosmic law
That you cannot profit from someone else’s suffering.
You only appear to,
When you do not know what you are.
When you are blind
to the part of yourself that suffers with them.

Which is why medicine is not a business
it’s a relief,
A chance to make yourself right,
Whole.

When you are whole, you come back later if you want or next lifetime,
To heal.

Drea Burbank is a physician-entrepreneur.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

Type 1 diabetes is no fun

October 30, 2021 Kevin 0
…
Next

Formalized mentorship as a requirement for medical schools

October 30, 2021 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: Practice Management

< Previous Post
Type 1 diabetes is no fun
Next Post >
Formalized mentorship as a requirement for medical schools

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Drea Burbank, MD

  • How doctors can regain control of their software

    Drea Burbank, MD
  • How doctors should organize

    Drea Burbank, MD
  • How physicians are mishandling technology

    Drea Burbank, MD

Related Posts

  • What medicine can learn from a poem

    Thomas L. Amburn
  • Why medical students should be taught the business side of medicine

    Martinus Megalla
  • Medicine: noble profession or big business?

    David A. Guss, MD
  • How Big Medicine is hurting patients and putting small practices out of business

    John Machata, MD
  • How social media can advance humanism in medicine

    Pooja Lakshmin, MD
  • Why academic medicine needs to value physician contributions to online platforms

    Ariela L. Marshall, MD

More in Physician

  • The second victim label ignores patient safety reality

    Timothy Lesaca, MD
  • How the hidden war in medicine affects young doctors

    Amr Ehab, MD
  • The hidden clinical cost of HCC coding in primary care

    Jeffrey H. Millstein, MD
  • The hidden crisis of trainee health during medical residency

    Chinyelu E. Oraedu, MD
  • Why Florida physician background checks are driving doctors away

    Tamzin A. Rosenwasser, MD
  • Redefining physician leadership and adversity after a life-changing illness

    Bertina Marie Hooks, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why clinical listening skills outpace artificial intelligence

      Ryan Egeland, MD, PhD | Tech
    • Why Florida physician background checks are driving doctors away

      Tamzin A. Rosenwasser, MD | Physician
    • Confronting the reality of bullying in medicine today

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Physician
    • The clinical evidence and reality of peptide therapy

      Shiv K. Goel, MD | Meds
    • Living with numbness after mastectomy: the unseen impact on survivorship

      Emily Hansen | Conditions
    • How physician financial autonomy cures physician burnout

      Tonya Kuhn, MD | Finance
  • Past 6 Months

    • The 9 laws of health care quality: Why metrics miss the point

      Constantine Ioannou, MD | Physician
    • Politics and fear have replaced science in U.S. pain management [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The controversy over Maintenance of Certification for grandfathered physicians

      Bernard Leo Remakus, MD | Physician
    • Why clinicians fail at writing expert reports

      Tracy Liberatore, Esq, PA | Conditions
    • Evidence-based medicine vs. clinical judgment: a medical student’s perspective

      Jay Pendyala | Education
    • When side effects are actually a cry for help with medication costs

      Shuchita Gupta, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • How physician financial autonomy cures physician burnout

      Tonya Kuhn, MD | Finance
    • Safety-net dentistry restores human dignity for patients recovering from severe addiction [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How patient portal message volume drives physician burnout

      Candice Elam, DNP | Conditions
    • The second victim label ignores patient safety reality

      Timothy Lesaca, MD | Physician
    • How the hidden war in medicine affects young doctors

      Amr Ehab, MD | Physician
    • Is HPA axis dysregulation causing your chronic insomnia?

      Shiv K. Goel, MD | Conditions

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why clinical listening skills outpace artificial intelligence

      Ryan Egeland, MD, PhD | Tech
    • Why Florida physician background checks are driving doctors away

      Tamzin A. Rosenwasser, MD | Physician
    • Confronting the reality of bullying in medicine today

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Physician
    • The clinical evidence and reality of peptide therapy

      Shiv K. Goel, MD | Meds
    • Living with numbness after mastectomy: the unseen impact on survivorship

      Emily Hansen | Conditions
    • How physician financial autonomy cures physician burnout

      Tonya Kuhn, MD | Finance
  • Past 6 Months

    • The 9 laws of health care quality: Why metrics miss the point

      Constantine Ioannou, MD | Physician
    • Politics and fear have replaced science in U.S. pain management [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The controversy over Maintenance of Certification for grandfathered physicians

      Bernard Leo Remakus, MD | Physician
    • Why clinicians fail at writing expert reports

      Tracy Liberatore, Esq, PA | Conditions
    • Evidence-based medicine vs. clinical judgment: a medical student’s perspective

      Jay Pendyala | Education
    • When side effects are actually a cry for help with medication costs

      Shuchita Gupta, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • How physician financial autonomy cures physician burnout

      Tonya Kuhn, MD | Finance
    • Safety-net dentistry restores human dignity for patients recovering from severe addiction [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How patient portal message volume drives physician burnout

      Candice Elam, DNP | Conditions
    • The second victim label ignores patient safety reality

      Timothy Lesaca, MD | Physician
    • How the hidden war in medicine affects young doctors

      Amr Ehab, MD | Physician
    • Is HPA axis dysregulation causing your chronic insomnia?

      Shiv K. Goel, MD | Conditions

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today

Copyright © 2026 KevinMD.com | Powered by Astra WordPress Theme

  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...