> It's sort of sad the way that the majority of the Medical field handles it's patients. Most doctors seem to rush into the room, poke, prod, perscribe, and rush out again before the patient has enough time to do more than answer the questions shot at them like gunfire. I myself have often left the doctor's feeling like I was rushed through some bizarre machine rather than actually examined, and helped to treat an illness.
> Saddly, the reason that this has come around is because most doctors feel pressured to see more patients in less time. Whether it's the organization they are employed by, the insurance company, or even just their own need to make productivity, they are rushed through time and time again.
> Now, you may be asking yourself, 'What in the world could this HalfWitt actually know about the medical field?!' Well, I speak second hand, but my father is a family practitioner (read-your average, run-of-the-mill doc), and all of this is information gleaned from many days of hearing him lament after coming home from work.
> My dad really did go into this field because he loves people, and he honestly tries to help whomever he sees as best he can. Physical, emotional, or mental, he does what he can. Of course, in order to do this, he has to defy the usual stereotype, and spends considerably more time with each patient. Saddly, the reason that most doctors rush is apparent from the results of my father NOT rushing. His patients usually spend more time waiting in the waiting room (aptly named, by the way), it takes longer to get an apointment scheduled, and he doesn't make nearly the money that any of the other doctors at his clinic do. Dispite all of this, I think, and he feels that the results are worth it. I often hear first, second, and third hand of people who absolutely love him, and consider him to be a good friend, as well as a good doctor. I think the satisfaction from spending the time to actually help the patient understand, as well as just recover physically, is what gives him the power to keep going to work every day. When you are in a job where seeing some of the worst suffering is an everyday occurance, often people ether become callused to it, or it wears them down over time. Seeing the warm smile of an elderly woman as you finally help her stop her back from aching, or seeing a small child's eyes light up when you give them a sticker after their checkup must be an amazing reward.
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> I don't like to sound as though I'm bragging, so know that I say all of this only in an effort to tell you about an amazing man that I have the fortune of knowing and loving as my father. He is an amazing man, and I look up to him. He's my Hero.
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> Half"Not quite sure why I posted this, but something just got me thinking, and away I went."Witt

For a lot of years, I had a doctor like your father, but unfortunately, I outlived him. My new, much younger doctor is very different, but he seems to take pretty good care of me. He's a physical fittness nut who actually runs in marathons. Last week he told me about a marathon where he finished behind a 70 year-old woman. He said he would get her next year.
Howard