Doctors in America

Whenever people discuss healthcare, the conversation is exclusively centered on the privileges afforded to doctors, while their actual obligations toward patients are conveniently ignored. Conversely, when the focus shifts to the patients, the dialogue always revolves around their duties to the physicians and the medical establishment, yet their fundamental rights are never mentioned. We are witnessing a cycle where patients pay more and more for medical services just to ensure physician salaries continue to climb, all while the actual quality of care steadily declines. The medical profession is incredibly lucrative, which is exactly what attracts young people today; medical school becomes increasingly popular simply because students are chasing the paycheck rather than the calling.
Beyond the high salaries that guarantee financial security and a comfortable lifestyle for anyone who finishes the program, that degree also serves as a golden ticket to high social standing and prestige.
I truly struggle to understand the value system in our society where massive paychecks and elevated status don't seem to demand any real accountability or work ethic. While medicine as a science is undeniably rigorous to study, merely holding the degree doesn't inherently carry a sense of responsibility. In our public healthcare system, there is total anarchy; everyone does whatever they feel like, whenever they feel like it, provided they even feel like working at all.
It is frankly tragic that a doctor’s job title and salary don't require any level of seriousness regarding the procedures they perform. In this system—though given the anarchy, the word "system" is a complete misnomer when describing our healthcare—it seems up to the individual to decide what they will do, how much they will work, and whether they will show up at all.

I find myself wondering when we will see regulations that go beyond mere paperwork to actually enforce a doctor's obligations to their patients. More importantly, when will employers start demanding that doctors actually be present in their clinics during designated working hours? Why should a patient—a taxpayer and policyholder—have to pay for a doctor who isn't even there when they are supposed to be working? One of the most glaring issues in our healthcare system is the endless lines and the sheer impossibility of getting timely access to a physician.
Essentially, this means that the availability of treatment for patients has been severely diminished.

The problem of waiting lists could be solved in a very straightforward way: by having doctors actually work. I believe every physician should be required to work at least six hours a day. Although there is a common belief that the primary cause of these delays is a shortage of staff, that is nothing more than an urban legend. There are quite enough doctors relative to the number of patients that wait times shouldn't even exist. It is the specialists who are truly lacking, and their numbers are pitifully low compared to general practitioners.
The root cause is that many specialists have actively blocked their younger colleagues from specializing or pursuing further professional development, essentially guarding their monopoly within their institutions to the detriment of both patients and the profession as a whole. By stifling competition within the field, they have created a monopoly that inevitably leads to a lack of genuine expertise among the medical corps. The end result is a highly mediocre medical workforce and, consequently, substandard healthcare for our insured citizens.
It is heartbreaking that our system has allowed itself to be "privatized" by individuals who secured their titles through political connections and cronyism rather than through actual clinical skill.
This generational gap is incredibly palpable; once these "big shots" within the system grab a seat of power, they cling to those positions and use underhanded tactics to prevent anyone from approaching them. They sit in those chairs until retirement, only beginning to pass down their knowledge to subordinates right before they leave—and even then, the criteria for advancement remain based on nepotism rather than merit. The generational divide is staggering.

The reality is that in various positions that theoretically require specialized expertise, you find all sorts of people working as doctors in our unfortunate American landscape. It isn't just that ignorance reigns supreme in our hospitals; laziness does too. Nowadays, almost anyone can claim to be a doctor. That degree doesn't necessarily signify true expertise, as many medical schools don't demand particularly deep knowledge. Beyond those with questionable skills, many who call themselves doctors possess incredibly poor work habits.
Furthermore, our hospitals are falling apart physically. Not only is the equipment outdated, but in many cases, it's outright broken.
They cut corners everywhere—from the quality of equipment down to the very bandages used—yet somehow, doctor salaries are the one thing they refuse to trim.

Sure, money is the core issue, but it’s not like we aren't pouring massive amounts into healthcare; the budget is huge, but the allocation is a disaster. We pour far too much into administrative overhead and payroll, while leaving hospitals starving for modern diagnostic tools and basic medical instruments.
Almost every cent allocated to the healthcare system gets swallowed up by salaries, leaving virtually nothing left for actual medical technology.
But honestly, a lack of physical resources isn't even our biggest headache. The real crisis is the sheer incompetence and lack of professionalism within the staff. Our doctors are subpar, and frankly, we’re falling behind the rest of the developed world in terms of care quality.

Look, if this were any other profession, we wouldn't be having this conversation. It’s not a life-or-death matter whether the streets are swept, if the food at a diner is mediocre, or if the Amtrak train shows up late for your commute. Those are minor inconveniences. But when it comes to doctors, their level of responsibility dictates whether we live or die. Just as we don't allow just anyone to carry a firearm, we shouldn't allow just anyone to hold a scalpel. A physician's competence and seriousness directly impact our survival in the most literal sense, and we desperately need to start being more selective about whom we entrust with our lives and our health. I think far too many patients have lost their lives simply because they were forced to wait or settle for mediocrity. Everyone likes to think, or at least hopes, that serious illness will strike someone else, but you never know when a devastating diagnosis will come knocking on your front door. We are gambling with too much, and even if we choose to take the risk, we are paying way too much money for such a reckless gamble. Leaving ourselves at the mercy of our public health specialists feels less like seeking care and more like playing Russian roulette—except instead of a cylinder with one bullet and seven empty chambers, it's a cylinder where the chamber is loaded with bullets and there's only one empty spot.
As patients, we are caught in an endless struggle: do we seek help from a doctor or just surrender to the illness? You can never truly know which path serves your best interests.
It is incredibly difficult for an average patient to judge whether to follow a doctor's orders or ignore them—to discern if a physician is telling the truth or lying, or if a recommendation is made in the interest of the patient's health or merely to satisfy the doctor's own laziness.

The biggest problem isn't the doctors who spend their shifts hanging out at the local pub; those guys aren't doing much damage. The real danger lies with those who are either profoundly incompetent or those who intentionally mislead you just to get rid of a patient who has already paid handsomely for their "specialized" service.

While criminal behavior is unfortunately widespread among physicians—since the profession offers massive opportunities for abuse and illegal wealth accumulation—it is rampant across many fields. However, excluding politics, which isn't even a "profession" in the traditional sense, it seems most prevalent among doctors. Hospitals are places where the FBI and local police should be working overtime, perhaps just as much as they do in casinos, sports betting parlors, or on the street corners. Yet, clearly, members of this profession enjoy a sort of unofficial immunity from prosecution, likely due to deep-seated connections within the political machine. We've seen enough recent scandals to know that the dirty business happening behind closed doors in medical offices is just as sordid as anything happening in the halls of government.

In various industries, the specific types of anomalies that emerge depend on the nature of the work. For instance, pedophiles are often drawn to professions involving children, like certain teachers or clergy; similarly, medicine tends to attract the greedy and the overly ambitious—people so ruthless that they will Machiavellianly exploit every available resource just to reach their goals.
It is a career where, after navigating a relatively grueling medical school curriculum, one can achieve immense wealth with minimal effort. Even through legal means. Unlike other callings, a disproportionate number of people enter the medical field driven by poor work ethics and an insatiable hunger for material things, placing expertise, responsibility, and honor at the bottom of their priority list, while treating morality and conscience as foreign concepts.

I have nothing but respect for the last remaining Indian; the true humanitarians left in the medical ranks who have survived the negative selection process imposed by their colleagues through various lobbies, backroom deals, and the constant maneuvering taking place in hospital hallways, offices, bars, nightclubs, ski resorts, yachts, and luxury hotels frequented by the social elite.
I have to give them credit, because since the total inversion of the value system in America back in the nineties—which has absolutely devastated the patient population—they aren't just fighting illnesses, which is their actual job; they’re also fighting their own colleagues who are offended by any hint of indifference toward laziness, incompetence, or let's be honest, outright criminality. There is zero accountability, unlike that "high society" lifestyle where doctors act like they're living in some luxury Dubai penthouse while driving $100,000 BMWs.

It is truly pathetic that such a prestigious profession, which in theory should be among the most humane callings, has been allowed to devolve into pure anarchy. This is something you only see in the American medical landscape, where the only one with obligations is the patient, while the doctor feels absolutely no obligation toward the patient. It’s tragic when a vocation that is inherently compassionate gets turned into a carcinogenic element of our society because people hide behind their titles to mask abuse, negligence, laziness, and a total lack of empathy.

The medical profession today carries virtually no responsibility; every doctor simply does whatever they want, whenever they feel like it, and to whomever they please. Their only real limitations are their own internal values and conscience—but as we all know, you practically need a searchlight to find a single doctor with a functioning conscience, given how much the system leans toward narcissistic hedonism.

Usually, the public sector takes the brunt of the criticism because of low productivity, general laziness, excessive perks, bloated salaries, and being way too protected from consequences.
Yet, within that public sector, you have doctors who lead the pack in sheer unproductivity and a level of job security that even a protected government official could only dream of, all while pulling in the highest salaries in the country. And yet, they are the least criticized group; if anyone even dares to point out their failings, they're met with immediate backlash.
While other public employees might spend their work hours grabbing coffee, surfing the web, gossiping, or heading home early—acting more like hairdressers than professionals—it is often impossible to even find a doctor in their office during their scheduled working hours.

So, what are we supposed to do? Doctors have gutted the healthcare system through their excesses to the point where the entire infrastructure is held together more loosely than a house of cards.
If they had just maintained some shred of decency despite their laziness, we might have managed, but once we gave them an inch, they took the whole damn thing. We can't go on like this.
We need a complete overhaul of healthcare—specifically a reform of the medical staff. To be even more precise: a purge of the incompetent parasites.

In my view, the first step is getting doctors actually into their offices. Mandatory presence at the workplace. For a little while, we might even have to tolerate some of the existing laziness and incompetence toward patients.
Because if we don't, the shock to the system would be too great, and we'd find ourselves without half our doctors overnight.
Of course, even in that initial phase, many would likely quit, because so many doctors are so deeply entrenched in their ways of doing nothing that a quick turnaround is simply impossible.
The rest might eventually adjust to actually working, bit by bit.
The next stage of the reform would be strict liability for everything they sign. Every instance of stupidity, amateurism, or intentional deception of a patient would be met with heavy sanctions.

Only after those reforms are in place could we even begin to talk about a doctor's obligations to their patients; until then, those obligations remain nothing more than a theoretical, imaginary concept.

@Taylor Nguyen5/">@@Taylor Nguyen5 Okay... this is getting epic... take it easy, man...

@fadedmarlin402/">@@fadedmarlin402 honestly, let it stay up... I just want to see what people say in the comments...

Why didn't anyone give me a heads-up about this? I feel totally ripped off. Honestly, I’m starting to question if I even deserve the title of doctor—I’m pulling an average of 280 hours a month, four weeks straight (and I won't even get into my salary or how I'm "compensated" for all this overtime). They told me I had to be responsible to myself and the people counting on me, but where am I supposed to go to claim all those goddamn rights that are supposed to come with being a physician in America 🤔?

Good grief, this thing is massive. Who on earth actually sits down to read all this?

You don't need to go to any service desk or file paperwork. It just happens naturally...
I mean, you already have all those perks sitting there; the fact that you aren't using them? That's on you. Either you simply don't know they exist, or you've got some internal moral compass holding you back from taking advantage of them...
...as for overtime, we could certainly dive into that too, but I’ll pass since this thread is already getting way too long...

I honestly can’t be bothered to slog through this entire piece because I have much better things to do with my time. You really only need to glance at the first few sentences to see exactly where this is headed. In my opinion, you're just spouting nonsense and blatant falsehoods—the kind of stuff you'd see published on CNN without a shred of shame. I have zero intention of sitting here and explaining myself. People will judge the quality of this for themselves...

Look, I get it. I’m fully aware there are plenty of hacks in the medical field—I mean, why would we be any different? But the tone you're taking here feels like a total witch hunt. In my neck of the woods, and from what I see with my colleagues, there aren't nearly as many bad actors as you're making them out to be. I don't think some bad experience, a bit of disappointment, or whatever else 🤷 might be thinking is a valid excuse for such a massive, baseless generalization. I'm speaking from my own life and what I see from my peers every day... and trust me, we aren't the last Indians left. Maybe the issue is that we still have a somewhat naive, well-meaning view of the world; we don't just lash out at everything or assume our individual struggles represent how society works as a whole. Laziness, burnout, irresponsibility, lack of ethics... whatever. It doesn't matter.

James Watson84 said:Oh, believe me, I am fully aware of the absolute parasites that exist within the medical profession—as if we aren't the exception to the rule ourselves—but it was the sheer tone of your post that rubbed me the wrong way; it felt like a complete witch hunt. In the specific field where I work, and among those I know personally, there aren't nearly as many bad actors as you seem to think. I don't believe that any single bad experience, any disappointment, or whatever else (or perhaps just some idle speculation from an outsider who clearly has nothing better to do 🤷) can justify such an ungrounded generalization. I’m speaking from my own life and the examples of colleagues right next to me... and the truth is, we aren't the last Indians left. Maybe the issue is that we hold a slightly more superficial, naive, or benevolent view of the world, so we don't retaliate against the vultures and try not to project our individual struggles onto the general state of society. Laziness, burnout, irresponsibility, lack of ethics... well, whatever.

What do you mean, "parasite"? Why are you generalizing like that? And assuming you're actually telling the truth, why are you judging yourself and your own kind? You claim my argument is ungrounded? I stand behind every single word I’ve said, even if I had to put my full name on it.
And no, I am not talking about one isolated case or one rogue doctor; I am talking about dozens of them that I have dealt with personally through my friends and my family. In every single instance, I was directly involved!

Since we're on the subject of making arguments, how exactly do you defend this claim that you all have a "more benevolent" view of the world? On what basis are you drawing this conclusion, and from whom? The general population? I wouldn't go that far...
Is it "benevolent" when your colleagues would rather send a patient with a curable disease toward a safe death than actually bother to treat them? Is it "benevolent" when you turn away patients at the door without an exam under the pretext that they're lying, simply because you don't feel like working? Is it benevolent when you just don't show up for your shift because you can't be bothered to come in at all, and then you order the nurses to turn away every single patient scheduled for that day—including ninety-year-olds who can barely move? What do you care... is it benevolent when you deceive patients, and then, once they figure out the real diagnosis without your help, you start threatening them with psychiatric holds or being strapped to a bed? Is that what you call benevolence? If that’s your definition of being good-hearted, then we really have nothing left to talk about!

fadedmarlin402 said:I honestly can't be bothered to slog through the whole thing because I have much more important things to do with my life. You really only need to skim the first few lines to see exactly where this is going. In my opinion, you're just spouting nonsense and blatant falsehoods—it’s honestly embarrassing how you'd try to churn out clickbait articles for CNN like that. I’m not going to waste my breath trying to explain myself to you. People will judge for themselves...

People are going to figure it out regardless of whether I post or not. And maybe try expanding your vocabulary a little...

Taylor Nguyen5, you know what "tltr" stands for? Too long to read.
exactly.
I’ve never actually had a bad experience with doctors themselves—not that I’ve dealt with anything major, anyway—it's just the system that fails you. Every doctor I've seen has been hardworking, highly skilled, and genuinely professional with me. Look, I'm not saying every single doctor out there is an expert or carries that level of responsibility, but it isn't fair to lump them all together...

Doctors in America?
The answer?😱😱😱😱😱😱 😱😱😱😱
They actually kicked me out of their office just because I turned down a specific type of treatment they were pushing.

Alright... I feel like I need to step in here... Look, doctors are educated professionals... and sure, I’m not saying there aren't some pretenders in the mix... but most highly educated people tend to follow certain standards of common sense and basic respect. They aren't just some random thugs off the street. A little decency toward people in that profession wouldn't hurt. I used to work in the ER, so I know how intense things get... those shifts where you're genuinely worried about your own safety every single Saturday... wondering if some drunk idiot is going to swing a bottle at you or try to stab you with a knife. Honestly, I’ve only ever met one doctor who was a total moron... as for everyone else, I have nothing but good things to say. From the moment someone is admitted until they're discharged, I've never once been told to kick a patient out, nor have I ever lost my cool or threatened anyone with insanity. I don't know what you're even talking about... and neither have any of my colleagues. Maybe take a second to think before you start tilting at windmills. If this is based on your own bad experiences, I'm sorry, truly—but since you admitted they're personal, you really can't use them to generalize an entire profession.

cosmicmaker30 said:Hold on... I really have to step in here... Look, doctors are educated people... and I’m not saying there aren't exceptions to that rule... but most highly educated professionals adopt certain standards of common sense and basic decency. They aren't just some lowlifes off the street... showing a little respect toward people in those positions wouldn't hurt. I used to work in the ER, so I know exactly what the atmosphere is like... those shifts where you’re genuinely worried about your own safety every single Saturday... wondering if some drunk lunatic is going to swing a bottle at you or pull a knife. I’ve only ever encountered one doctor who was a total idiot... as for the rest, I can only offer praise. From the moment a patient is admitted until they are discharged, I’ve never once had anyone order me to kick a patient out, nor have I ever lost my cool and started screaming at patients like a madman. What on earth are you talking about? And none of my colleagues have either. Think twice before you start tilting at windmills. If this is based on your own personal experiences, then fine—it's personal—but you can't use your own isolated incidents to make sweeping generalizations about an entire profession.

So, I guess generalizations are only allowed when they suit you?
Like how you conveniently generalized them by claiming they aren't "lowlifes from the street"? Because they certainly act like it sometimes... the mockery, the threats, the constant swearing... especially when you’re fighting for the life of someone you love and no amount of intimidation, primitive insults, or verbal abuse can shake your resolve. They act like lions, refusing to do their jobs. They dodge examinations under the pretext that everyone is lying or exaggerating. They know they're in the wrong, and they know that if they give in, they'll be caught in their own web of deception. No matter how dire the situation, the first thing they try to do is send you home without even looking at you, telling you everything is fine.
Just look at a few examples. There was this little boy with a crushed skull; they didn't even want to admit him to the ER. Instead, they just passed him around—from the ER to his primary doctor, to the hospital, back to the ER—just running in circles. Nobody would take him. The poor kid could barely walk; he was vomiting in the hospital hallways, and yet nobody would let him into an exam room. His mother was driven to the brink of madness, eventually telling them she wasn't moving from that hallway even if they both died of hunger right there, until a doctor finally saw him.
And when they finally did see him? They gave him a perfunctory glance and tried to send him home again. Only after the mother kept insisting did they actually admit him to the hospital, but they refused to provide any treatment because they claimed it wasn't necessary. It took several days before they finally relented and performed a scan on his head. That little boy ended up needing surgery to reconstruct his skull. If it hadn't been for the mother's persistence, he wouldn't have even been examined.
And no, this isn't the only case I'm using to generalize; cases like this aren't the exception, they are the rule. Don't try to hold me to my word—I don't even want to bring up other examples because they are even more harrowing, and the medical indifference is even deeper. But if I have to, I will!
And these are the "educated people"? Honestly, anyone who constantly flaunts their education while practicing medicine with less actual competence than their patients—be they economists, hairdressers, or cobblers—should be held accountable. Regardless of whether they cheated through their exams or actually know what they're doing, if they refuse to treat people out of sheer arrogance, laziness, or whatever else, they should be banned from seeing patients for life.