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The darker side of being a doctor (2017)

drericlevi1.substack.com

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Re: The darker side of being a doctor (2017)

#2
Sounds like the hospital is running a successful business, by all relevant metrics of success. They get the most out of their resources. Sometimes the resources wear out, but that's okay because they can get new ones, and they calculate the rate of resources wearing out is acceptable to increase the overall profit extraction from the resources. Anything else would needlessly increase costs.

Re: The darker side of being a doctor (2017)

#4
I strongly dislike the way people talk about mental health as if it is just a personal problem or a disease when, often, it is a reasonable reaction to the world as it is. When we conceive of it entirely as a disease we fail to focus on making positive social changes which might make everyone's lives better. Somehow it doesn't feel like a coincidence that in capitalism the "individual problem" narrative seems to always be at the forefront.

Re: The darker side of being a doctor (2017)

#5
post #2

Sounds like the hospital is running a successful business, by all relevant metrics of success. They get the most out of their resources. Sometimes the resources wear out, but that's okay because they can get new ones, and they calculate the rate of resources wearing out is acceptable to increase the overall profit extraction from the resources. Anything else would needlessly increase costs.

That's a very accurate take, as cynical and cold as it is. I'm sure some private equity firm is very happy with the return on investment.

Re: The darker side of being a doctor (2017)

#6
post #2

Sounds like the hospital is running a successful business, by all relevant metrics of success. They get the most out of their resources. Sometimes the resources wear out, but that's okay because they can get new ones, and they calculate the rate of resources wearing out is acceptable to increase the overall profit extraction from the resources. Anything else would needlessly increase costs.

This line of thinking makes me lose hope for humanity.

Re: The darker side of being a doctor (2017)

#7

Slightly off-topic: I know the Substack says 2024, but I remembered reading this very same post before. Turns out it's from 2017 [0]. [0] https://www.medicalrepublic.com.au/dark-side-doctoring/1063

Thanks! I knew I had read this before but the date was making me question myself.

Re: The darker side of being a doctor (2017)

#8

I strongly dislike the way people talk about mental health as if it is just a personal problem or a disease when, often, it is a reasonable reaction to the world as it is. When we conceive of it entirely as a disease we fail to focus on making positive social changes which might make everyone's lives better. Somehow it doesn't feel like a coincidence that in capitalism the "individual problem" narrative seems to alwa…

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shit_life_syndrome

Re: The darker side of being a doctor (2017)

#9
post #2

Sounds like the hospital is running a successful business, by all relevant metrics of success. They get the most out of their resources. Sometimes the resources wear out, but that's okay because they can get new ones, and they calculate the rate of resources wearing out is acceptable to increase the overall profit extraction from the resources. Anything else would needlessly increase costs.

This line of thinking makes me lose hope for humanity.

I really hope the GP's comment is sarcasm, an attempt to point out how the capitalist incentives steamroll over real people in the pursuit of profit.

Re: The darker side of being a doctor (2017)

#10
Why do doctors have families on top of a demanding career then complain about it when they are over burdened? They put themselves in that situation. They can also leave that situation whenever they want.

Then to go on sadfishing with this border-line masochism in a blog post...

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