10. GREAT DOCTOR TV SHOWS – There are lots of fantastic medical TV shows, from Dr. Kildare, Dr. Welby, ER, Becker and my all-time favorite M*A*S*H. 9. EXOTIC CME LOCALES – Never mind that my own Academy is placing burdensome and costly CME requirements on me; from the brochures I receive daily, I see that many of you are cruising to Thailand or hiking Everest to achieve your CMEs. I’ve spent my last five CME sessions at the exciting Phoenix Convention Center. 8. EASY TO SOCIALIZE WITH STRANGERS – Have you ever been the victim of the awkward party conversational lull with a stranger? No more! Once you confess to being a physician, you hear every intimate detail of this stranger’s life. What a gift! 7. THE MONEY – We know there was money to be made in the “olden days” of medicine. The problem was, you wisely invested all your money and retirement in a market fund that tanked. Younger physicians can’t keep up with the costs of practicing. Scratch this one off your list and mentally change it to “The Top Nine Reasons I like Being a Doctor.” 6. HOSPITAL PERKS – What is more fun than free peanut butter and crackers in the surgeons’ areas? How about the physician lounge food that I pay for and never eat? (You hospital based docs can have my helpings.) How about the physician parking always full with research fellows and house staff? 5. “Dr.” IS A BETTER PREFIX THAN MISS, MRS, OR MS. – I think all female physicians understand this. 4. BEING ON A TEAM – Let’s face it. Most of us were not among the best athletes in college. Many of us were the nerds, dreading phys ed. class. Healthcare takes a team approach and we’re not only part of the team, we’re the team captains. We get to run the play. I like that! 3. THE PRESCRIPTION PAD – I thought my own doctor in college was a miracle worker when she fixed my first and only sinus infection. The prescription pad is something very powerful in the correct (our) hands. 2. I’M NOT A LAWYER – With apologies to Tony Mitten and much of my family, this is self-explanatory. 1. SAVING LIVES – OK, I do a lot of chronic disease management and preventive health care. I companion dying people. But I have saved lives and so have you. We have saved many lives as physicians and despite all the daily “doctor-bashing”, we continue to save lives every day. Written by Susan M. Whitely, MD Here
