Guys, I've been reading your posts for a few weeks now. I finished training and became a hospitalist for a couple years. The things I enjoyed about inpatient care during my training quickly eroded. Hospitalists are essentially H&P & D/C machines for the specialists. We get called at all times to clear patients for procedures, admit all the no-pay/self pay patients that no one wants, and basically do the paperwork (prescriptions, home health, etc.)
So I figured starting my own practice would make me feel better. I just opened about a month ago. I must say, it's not the case. At least in the hospital, you don't have to worry about seeing a difficult patient after discharge. Just dealing with all the calls, refills, whiny patients in a few weeks has me wondering why I didn't choose a different specialty. And hospital call isn't any better.
What has happened to us in Primary Care? We're all miserable and unsatisfied. Very few residents want to join our specialties. And there is very little hope for any improvement in the horizon.
Sorry for the pessimism...I just had to vent a little.
