At the Crossroads: Healthcare–Where’s the Love?

During our Graduation Ceremony, the class of 1973 read and took the original Hippocratic Oath.

Medical reality rubbed sore my neophyte eyes, as I read “…Neither will I give a woman means to procure an abortion. I will not give a fatal draught to anyone if I am asked, nor will I suggest any such thing.

“I will be chaste and religious in my life and in my practice. I will not cut, even for the stone, but I will leave such procedures to practitioners of that craft.

“I will not abuse my position to indulge in sexual contacts with the bodies of women or of men….

“Whatever I see or hear, professionally or privately, which ought not be divulged, I will keep secret and tell no one.

“If…I observe this Oath and do not violate it, may I prosper both in my life and in my profession, earning good repute among all men for all time. If I transgress and forswear this Oath, may my lot be otherwise.”

After graduation, I completed a Flexible Internship, one year practicing Emergency Medicine, then completed an Internal Medicine Residency, and then serving as a Staff Model HMO internist.

After one year in the HMO, I entered private practice, assuming the practices of two prominent internists in the metro area. I hired a wonderful RN off the floor of a large private hospital, and an excellent secretary was hired for the front office.

The practice bloomed from the start, and was a mix of self-pay wealthy people, those with some or no insurance from lower economic strata. I served all with compassion and diligence. I loved my patients.


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