I am a
*family physician* is a warm cuddly term that in fact was an ill-conceived concept designed to fill gaps in rural medical care.
I practice in a small town with a small hospital. I cover my patients 24-7. I see my patients at home, in the office, in the hospital, in nursing homes. All my patients get an hour of my time for their first visit and have access to me on any day when they are sick.
Most of the time, to send my patient to a specialist, they need to travel about 30 miles to another town. I consult the few specialists in my town when my patients are in house when I have a problem I can't solve. Same for outpatient. I just sent a patient with a somatization disorder who was admitted last month for chest pain to a cardiologist in another town mostly for reassurance. She had a negative echo and stress test in our hospital. He cathed her and sent her back and told her that I need to send her to a gastroenterologist for an egd for her GERD and a pulmonologist for her asthma. She has mild intermittent asthma and h pylori that is in the process of being treated.
Most specialists I deal with are not like the fellow who wrote the blog or the one I mentioned above. Thank heavens. Most specialists I deal with are helpful and appreciative of the role of family physician.
I do think the author has one point that I think family medicine should address. While not true for most family physicians, family medicine is a last choice for many medical students. It is also seen as a place to get a foot in the door for some before they get into the field of medicine they "really" want to be in. We need to do a much better job of selling our profession not only to idiotic colleagues like Dr. Bourdain, but also with future generations of doctors.
I'm sorry I got carried away-we're all busy and don't have time for long winded discussions. From my viewppoint, Dr. Bourdain is misguided.
