Dissatisfaction with the Medical Practice

Dissatisfaction with the Medical Practice

This article was somewhat depressing in that it pointed out some of the drawbacks in going into medicine, and the feelings that doctors have about their chosen profession. The summary in short is that there is a growing dissatisfaction with medical practice. One statistic said that California physicians were questioned in 1991 and again in 1996. The percentage of those who were less than fully satisfied with their profession choice rose from 53 percent to 63 percent. This article had a lot to do with happiness. Income does not always prove that there will exist happiness in one’s life, though once study says that physicians earning 250,000-299,999 a year were 98% more likely to report being very content with their medical career than those earning half as much. The article then went into what some of the known causes for this dissatisfaction and lack of happiness. Managed care was one possible major reason, namely those who are employees of HMOs, which affects the practice of medicine greatly. Secondly, there has been a great rising tide of medical-malpractice and an increase in trouble and disagreement between practicing physicians and their insurers. Thirdly, there is a change and difference in expectations among physicians and even patients. There is a discrepancy between standards set in a doctor’s training and the compromises forced by practice. A final and very important issue is time. Physicians feel they are not given enough time to either respond to patients are accomplish the tasks placed before them, and this in turn affects the mood and satisfaction of a doctor. It is unfortunate that the section for solutions is such a small portion of the entire article. The positive statement was made that intrinsic dissatisfaction in this profession can actually lead to significant social good. Once gain, it is not whether you fall down or get down on yourself, its what you do with this experience.

War of the Logos

Missile Defense Agency Logo


The new logo is causing quite a stir all throughout the country. I'm sure all the conspiracists are having a field day with this. What does it actually mean? My guess is nothing at all, but it will soon be changed, because the similarities are just too eerily close. Take a look at the new logo from the missile defense agency website below:

is what you get when you obviously mix the Islamic flag and another familiar logo.... :

 


As I said, this is likely a strange coincidence and I'm sure people in the agency are giving awkward side glances, particularly at the logo making department. Likely to be fixed is my prediction. But I'm sure people in the tea party will be shouting all sorts of slander and theories on this one. Just remember, you can draw connections from random places all the time:

Straight is the gate, narrow is the way...

That scripture, found in Matt. 7:13-14, is one explanation I have for the LDS bronze medal in U.S. church growth in 2009, according to newly released data by the National Council of Churches USA. Who won the gold? Jehova's Witnesses with 2.12% increase, and the Church of God of Cleveland TN holding the silver medal at a 2.04% increase. The LDS Church was at a 1.63% increase. Catholics aren't fairing so well...losing roughly 398,000 members, and Southern Baptists losing 40,000. This means that by the year 2180 there will no longer be any Catholics or Southern Baptists in the U.S.! In fact, in addition to the medal winners listed above, there was only one other church that had any growth in 2009, all the other churches in the U.S. either saw a decrease in growth or stayed the same.

Okay okay, now that I got your attention and some Mormons out there are depressed and wondering how they lost to the JWs, lets look at the actual numbers instead of the percentages:

======

LDS Church: 95,736.5 (we love you 0.5, whoever you are)

Jehova's Witnesses: 23,153

Church of God of Cleveland TN: 21,494

======

Ah, well there you have it. Gold medal for the Mormons. Congrats. Fastest growing church in the U.S. for 2009, thanks for playing everyone else. Now if we can just get those 95,000 to stay, we'll be in good shape!

http://www.ncccusa.org/news/090130yearbook1.html

Oh so that's the problem with some religions...

If I was Tiger Woods and my religion was Buddhism, I probably would have followed the same course of action as he did. Why? Because according to him, as spoken during a press conference this morning, his religion teaches him

"that craving for things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security."

What in the world does that even mean?? It is no wonder he struggled with moral decisions and holding back the watershed of temptation. You'd think Siddhartha Guatama might come out with something a bit more specific to help his followers. Other than hurting the feelings of his wife and losing sponsor contracts, I'm not sure I believe he understands why his actions were wrong, particularly in terms of the religious.

Thankfully, I am not Tiger and not a follower of such a vague religion with such vague and incoherent tenants. As a Mormon, I don't have such esoteric phrases to debate with in my mind. In Tiger's mind, during moments of temptation, it was Tiger vs. Buddhist theology, and Tiger beat it hands down. In my mind, during moments of temptation, I just don't stand a chance against my devout Mormon faith. Try as I might, I can't get past the impenetrable nose guard of Mormon theology. In addition to Biblical laws, we also have the Book of Mormon and D&C stating quite clearly:

"Thou shalt not commit adultery; and he that committeth adultery, and repenteth not, shall be cast out. But he that has committed adultery and repents with all his heart, and forsaketh it, and doeth it no more, thou shalt forgive."

If I could beat that one, I'd be going into law. It is not when our instinct fails that we need religion; it is when instinct kicks in that we need religion most, and when that religion can't deliver, I begin to question its source and authenticity. Otherwise, what is religion for? When a religion ceases to help mankind, it ceases to be a religion and becomes merely a hobby. I'm grateful for the specificity of my religion and the guidance it offers me in order to live a happy life.