“First, do no harm” Hippocrates, a long time ago
One unexpected by-product of the Affordable Health Care Act is that it has forced many physicians like myself to be introspective. Now in many ways that is sort of like asking a lawyer to be honest, it’s hard to do and you don’t know why you would want to anyway, but I have looked inside over the past couple of years and reaffirmed why I became and still practice as a physician. When the basic tenants of a belief system are challenged, as they have been with Obamacare, it is incumbent on the practitioner to validate why he does what he does, or find something else to do. There indeed are many doctors who feel they are unable to practice quality medicine as they seem fit and have retired, pushed to the brink by what they see as strangling restrictions, limited autonomy, and mountainous paperwork. Strains of ”This is not why I got into medicine” ring out regularly like a Greek Chorus in a Shakespearean tragedy. That begs the question, “Why did you get into medicine?”, and it is the answer to that which Obamacare has forced out of us like a first time mom giving birth. All these changes, like them or not, have raised for physicians the issues of purpose, motive, and professional ethics.
Why do I do what I do? Unless I can answer that affirmatively then working in the straightjacket of Obamacare restrictions would be intolerable. This is not some Miss America-save the world-naive-medical school interview answer because it is tempered by both experience and maturity. I share many of my colleagues sense that this is not a job but a calling. I honestly don’t know what else I would do, and that is not out of ignorance of other options, it is an honest understanding that God made me to be a doctor. That is not presumptuous or haughty, it is simple a realization of purpose much as another may know that they were created to be an entertainer or a priest. It is also not to say that at times I dream of being other things, like a world class Kenyon marathoner, but that is a different story. This is important in this time of transition because with this certainty of purpose I can sustain any external change (such as Obamacare) an not stray from my calling.
This applies to anyone. No matter the changes, the obstructions, the disappointments, if you understand and are passionate about your purpose, fulfillment is obtainable. Viktor Frankl said, “If you understand the why...you will discover the how.” If medicine is more than a job, if taking care of folks is more than a means to a financial end, if promoting wellness is a lifestyle, then no Obamacare bureaucrat can damper the joy that comes from doing what I am supposed to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment