By Taylor Johnson (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: April 11, 2012
Have any of you heard about the Hippocratic Oath? Well, to sum it up for those of you who haven’t, in the fifth century or so, a philosopher decided that everyone in the medical field should hold the same values when it comes to their patients. Obviously this oath has changed over time to fit modern society and modern medicine, but in short the oath taken by physicians states they will do their best to help all life and “renounce self-interest.” We could assume that means when we’re sick we can have someone who’s looking out for that bad case of the sniffles or post-exam headache.
However, when it comes to finding a family doctor, you’ll need to prepare yourself. In order to find a family doctor you must apply, and then book an appointment where the doctor reviews your application to decide if they will take you on.
Take you on?
First of all, from a student’s standpoint, that’s quite a hassle; we have enough to worry about with exams, due dates and part-time jobs. Now we have to add an interview process and application in order find someone willing to keep us running at 100 per cent? Why should doctors require your application? Doesn’t this defy their oath? What are the qualifications needed to be accepted? And, above all, why has finding a doctor become similar to finding a job?
I’m sure we have all experienced the bouncing from clinic to clinic, trying to figure out what’s going on with our bodies. The doctor asks simple questions, checks your ears and throat and blood pressure, then reminds you to check in with your family doctor should any of the symptoms persist. This seems like a good idea … if you have a family doctor to check in with. When they say “family doctor,” they mean a doctor who has reviewed your application, called you into an appointment to go over that application, and then decided they want to take you as a permanent patient.
But if that doctor decided they do not want you on their patient list, for whatever reason, what should you do? In my opinion, the patients should have to interview the doctor, since the patient is letting them into their most personal problems.
The medical system seems to be stuck in a vicious circle; we’re all suffering from a doctor shortage, a shortage caused by the doctors who pick and choose the clients they want to treat. To put this whole thing bluntly: round and round we go! By restricting who can be on a patient list and who can’t, the very idea of selfless medicine is lost. Instead of focusing on picking and choosing who they want to treat, doctors should spend their energy on taking care of the people behind those applications.
This job-like application process goes against the Hippocratic Oath; something needs to be done to break us out of this cycle.
