Page 22 - Layout 1

MEDICAL
EDUCATION

continued from page 15

of overhead. The author ends by stating that he “look(s) forward to not because of my enthusiasm for medicine — I had to pee real bad.
each day of work.” Big sigh! Maybe I’ve just become tired and cyn- So — why did I come into work today: private school tuition,
ical, but there are many days (most as I get older) where I’d rather
stay home, drink coffee and watch a tree grow. mortgage, *!*## pool repairs? Oh, alright — there was a smidge of
altruism…maybe…just a little.
The only contributor I’ll mention by name is my old friend Fred
Olin. As expected, Fred was dry and witty. Starting life as a veteri- I almost forgot; the title of the article. Why did I become a doctor?
narian, dealing with all animal forms except people, becoming a You ready for this? Dr. Zhivago. Saw it twice in the theatre — long
doctor simply “expanded my practice by one species”. before VCR’s. If this is what doctors do and nurses look like Julie
Christie then sign me up.
There was little fluff or Aunt Jemima’s on the next helping entitled
“I didn’t go into medicine for that!” It was cynicism — raw and Now that’s all-true-ism.
gritty. In a nutshell, the author was upset with doctors who have
sold out to big pharmaceutical companies. You know the scene: Robert G. Johnson, MD, is an orthopaedic surgeon, a BCMS member
Come have an expensive filet mignon while Dr. Benedict Arnold and a frequent contributor to San Antonio Medicine.
tells you how great a mediocre drug really is. I liked this article the
best — no punches pulled. However, the unspoken message re-
mained unsaid: Doctors today are forced (by falling reimbursements
and relentless overhead) to seek alternate income streams.

I know what you’re thinking: In the dictionary under curmudg-
eon, it says ‘see Johnson’. But I sure feel better getting this off my
chest. I’d write more but I have an office full of needy patients and
a four hour surgery to follow. I jumped out of bed this morning,

22 San Antonio Medicine • September 2016