Katie Klingberg is a family physician.

Nobody wants this job. Should physicians stick around?

Physician
March 17, 2023

As I enter the patient exam room, the first question is no longer “When can I get my COVID-19 vaccine?” but rather, “Are you leaving? My old doctor left. You are my fifth doctor in three years. What is happening?”

Nowadays, I spend more time educating patients about the visible cracks our medical system flaunts. They were present before the pandemic and will remain as it ends. In my health care …

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Nobody wants this job. Should physicians stick around?

A breakup with primary care

Physician
March 25, 2021

It pains me to write this.  I am tired of pretending.  I simply cannot do this anymore.  I sincerely wish you well.  I do hope our paths will cross again.

I first gazed at you, cautiously intrigued.  Coquettish even.  Butterflies fluttered when I thought of you. You left me longing for more details.  You captivated my heart and mind.  I became obsessed with you, wanting to understand your layers and complexities.  …

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A breakup with primary care

Dear patients: Please show up on time

Physician
March 9, 2020

There is constant tension to remain on-time working in a primary care clinic, seeing patients every twenty minutes back-to-back.  It takes an incredible ability for the front desk staff, medical assistants, and the physician to be able to keep this flow running smoothly only to have it be derailed by the late patient who does not understand how their actions affect everyone else after them.

I currently work in a system …

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Dear patients: Please show up on time

Our medical training has been outsourced

Physician
July 15, 2019

Reflexively, I often feel my breath catch, and my eyeballs roll ever-so-slightly when a patient leads with, “I saw on the internet …”

The precious minutes available to connect, inspect, and direct the management of their Google search are suddenly squandered by backtracking to reassure the bug bite will not turn into the bubonic plague!

Our medical training has been outsourced to Wikipedia and WebMD.

Today we all stand guilty believing we are …

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Our medical training has been outsourced