Every day is a school day

Last night I went to a lecture on the State of Healthcare after the election. Wow. Big topic. Back to that in a moment.

From the moment I started medical school people have asked me questions about EVERYTHING. I was warned that this would happen but didn't realize how quickly it would happen or how many different subjects I would be expected to be well versed in.

What do you think about health insurance?

Do you want to open your own practice? (aka do you want to start your own business)

How do you feel about charter schools? Public education? Health education?

Do you think that malpractice lawsuits should have caps?

This is where I remind you that I went to medical school. Not law school, business school, an education program or a public policy program. I do not know anything about these topics but I am somehow asked questions about these things all the time. This became a huge issue during the Accountable Care Act debacle and the more recent election where I was suddenly asked for my "professional opinion" about these issues. I can give you my professional opinion about flu shots (get one) and how much juice your kid should drink (4 oz) but when it comes to all this other stuff I'm just as lost as the next person.

One of my dearest friends has just embarked on her journey of "civicization" where she intends to learn more about how to be an involved and active citizen. Join her journey here: http://civicization.com.  This has inspired me to try to learn more about what it means to have a "professional opinion" in my profession. Hence my attendance at this lecture.

The first thing I noticed was that there was only one doctor on the panel. One doctor to represent the profession in a lecture on the future of our profession. This is a trend that I've noted in a lot of debates on the subject of healthcare - there are no doctors there! The future of our profession is being dictated by people who are not part of it - which, in my opinion, violates the definition of a profession. This is a larger issue and unfortunately I have no real answers at this point but I hope to keep working to find a balance between taking care of my patients and learning how to advocate for them and my profession throughout my career.

Every day is a school day.