How Are Doctors Doing Who Are Not Doing Direct Care?

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The answer to the headline is……..sh%tty. Here is an article from an AMA propaganda site. Let’s highlight some points”

From 2022 to 2023, 35.7% of doctors said they had a moderate interest in leaving their current jobs within the next two years, or that they would like to or definitely would leave in that time period, says the national physician comparison report.

Notice how many are in primary care:

The physician specialties with the highest intent to leave were:

  • Internal medicine: 39.1%.
  • Family medicine: 37.3%.
  • Obstetrics and gynecology: 34%.
  • Hospitalist medicine: 32.9%.
  • Emergency medicine: 32.3%.
  • Pediatrics: 30.2%.

How does the AMA plan to fix this? Put down your coffee;

As the leader in physician well-being, the AMA is reducing physician burnout by removing administrative burdens and providing real-world solutions to help doctors rediscover the Joy in Medicine™.

Yes, you read that right. They use the term Joy of Medicine, which the AMA thought was so smart that they had to trademark it. Are you kidding me? Anyway, let’s dive into their site shenanigans for a bit, shall we?

It seems the Joy of Medicine (can I even write that without the registered mark?) is just a recognition program for hospitals to get a gold star or other bullsh%t award. Can someone say Press Ganey? Look at these “administralian” terms (I really should TM that):

Recognition criteria

Recognition is based on organizational achievement and effort in six competency areas, evaluated through self-assessment and supporting documentation:

Assessment: Measuring physician well-being and burnout is critical to understanding and addressing system issues.

Commitment: A cross-cutting organizational commitment to workforce well-being is essential to preventing burnout within an organization.

Efficiency of practice environment: Operational efficiency is key to supporting well-being. Workflow and technology inefficiencies – in addition to documentation requirements–play a central role in driving burnout among physicians.

Teamwork: Effective teamwork can have a tremendous impact on the overall well-being of physicians and care teams.

Leadership: Leadership behaviors set the foundation of organizational culture, a primary indicator of organizational well-being.

Support: Cultivating connections at work is an important means to driving professional satisfaction.

As you may know, all of this will solve NOTHING. The system is broken. The ONLY hope for doctors is leaving the system and doing direct care. Then they can find the Joy of Medicine again (sue me, AMA).

And if you have left and are doing DPC, imagine having to deal with this crap above. Say a prayer for our indentured colleagues though most of them have Death Row Syndrome (damn, I really need to TM my stuff), and hate you.

About Douglas Farrago, MD

Dr. Farrago is a retired family physician based in Forest, Virginia. Since 2021, he has run DPCnews.com, a leading resource for the Direct Primary Care (DPC) movement. He is the author of three best-selling books on Direct Primary Care: The Official Guide to Starting Your Own Direct Primary Care Practice The Direct Primary Care Doctor’s Daily Motivational Journal Slowing the Churn in Direct Primary Care (While Also Keeping Your Sanity) In 2016, Dr. Farrago conceived the idea for the Direct Primary Care Alliance and co-founded the organization alongside other pioneering DPC physicians. He is widely recognized as a leading expert in the DPC model and frequently lectures to medical students, residents, and practicing physicians on how to successfully start and run their own DPC practices.Dr. Farrago sold his Direct Primary Care practice in October 2020 but continues to receive care there as a patient.