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This topic comprises 7 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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Topic: Going to the Dr. is AWESOME
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Stephen Furley
Film God
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Posts: 3059
From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England
Registered: May 2002
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posted 09-15-2004 07:17 AM
I'd rather do just about anything than go to a Doctor. If it's something minor it'll get better on its own; if it's something serious it'll kill me, and then I won't need a Doctor anyway.
I've had strange abdominal pains for about a week now, and sometimes they're pretty bad, but I just put up with them.
I did have to go to the Doctor a few months ago, for the first time in years, I was in great pain at work, and they insisted on sending me off in a Taxi. I had to sit in the waiting room for several hours, when the Doctor saw me he couldn't tell what the problem was, it might be an infection, it might be kidney stones, he couldn't be sure. He took a urine sample, sent it off for tests, which showed nothing abnormal. Eventually the pain went away, I still don't know what it was.
I've been to several doctors during my life, sometimes with many years between visits, and I don't think anything very useful has ever come out of it.
I hate bodies, and everything to do with them; I'd rather not even think about what goes on inside. Keep it out of sight, and out of mind.
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
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Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 09-15-2004 08:51 AM
quote: Brad Miller Actually, depending on her answer to #1, we may not need to know 2 or #3.
If the answer to #1 is yes but no to #2, then that would be interesting to say the least...
Like Jeremy, I take an 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' approach to doctors. I haven't seen one (professionally) for years, and hope not to have to for many years yet. Actually, though, come to think of it, I am a doctor: but given that I became one by writing a 150,000 word thesis about old films, I would not advise Jennifer or anyone else to see me if they are pregnant or would like their blood taken!
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
![](http://www.film-tech.com/ubbmembers/534a.jpg)
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 09-15-2004 01:34 PM
To start with, in Britain we have a state-run (i.e. paid for directly out of taxation) healthcare system called the National Health Service (NHS). Only a very small proportion of the population have private health insurance, and the private sector probably accounts only around 5% of consultations, treatments and operations at the absolute most (at a guess). There are some illnesses which have a significant waiting list for NHS treatment, but these are almost all non-life threatening (e.g. hip replacement operations), and in such cases people occasionally pay cash up front for the specific treatment (as against buying insurance cover). But as a general rule, everyone uses the NHS, which is free at the point of delivery.
The basic doctor's qualification is a five-year full time degree, at the end of which you're a junior hospital doctor earning around £25-30k (US$40kish, I'd guess). You then need to do a lot more training and exams to specialise in a given area (e.g. cardiology, psychiatry etc.), and those who stay in hospitals rather than go into general practice can expect to make it to consultant by their mid-40s, roughly speaking. Hardly any doctors work exclusively in private practice: most are senior consultants who do a small amount of private work on top of their contract with the NHS. The most senior hospital doctors usually end their careers on £70-100k.
So, basically, they're among the highest paid public servants in the country; but a doctor will still earn significantly less than someone with equivalent professional skills in the private sector (e.g. lawyers or airline pilots). But a doctor who has followed an average career pattern is likely to be earning at least twice as much as a teacher, civil servant or armed forces officer by their 40s. As against which, the training takes longer, so they're likely to graduate with a lot more debt; junior doctors' working hours are absolutely stupid; and they carry a lot of responsibility. A hospital doctor who makes serious mistakes that cause the death of patients might end up in jail as a result, but a teacher whose pupils all fail their exams does not run that risk.
The problem I've heard with doctor recruitment (I've got several relatives who are or were doctors, on both sides of the family) is that a disproportionate number of junior doctors want to go into general practice rather than hospital work, as it's less stressful and the hours are lower and more predictable. As a result there's a rapidly growing shortage of hospital doctors in a number of specialisms, especially those involving surgery. Apparently the number of specialist transplant surgeons coming through the system is now so low that there are fears that donor organs may go unused because there won't be enough surgeons to 'install' them. I haven't heard of us importing significant numbers of doctors from overseas, but this is happening with nurses; this being mainly because their pay is insultingly low, given their skills and the cost of living in Britain.
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