A Career in Primary Care Still Is Cause for Thanks
Country doctor Ben Brewer writes often for WSJ.com on the travails of primary care. Despite the hardships, he says he can’t imagine doing anything else.
In his latest column, Brewer gives thanks for the satisfaction the healing art can bring the practitioner.
He still sees patients around town who he has helped over the years. One woman reminded him recently of the breast cancer, missed by a mammogram, that Brewer found. She’s been free of cancer for five years. Another patient thanked Brewer for detecting a cancerous prostate when the PSA test was normal. And then there’s the mom who would have bled to death from a ruptured uterus, if not for Brewer and his small-town hospital.
Yes, he acknowledges, doctors’ feelings about their jobs may be at a low ebb. A recent survey plumbed the gloom of physicians, with almost half saying they expect to reduce the number of patients they see or to exit medicine entirely.
Even so, Brewer writes, “I take pride in the art of practicing medicine. There’s something to be said for that. Something you don’t find in the multiple-choice answers to surveys.”
Bonus Chat: Join Dr. Brewer in an online discussion group about his column. (WSJ.com […]
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