The United States is losing its primary-care physicians says Arnold Kassanoff, MD.

      A small yet important article I came across this morning in one of our local newspapers, Saturday February 17, 2006. A compelling, yet much to realistic problem getting worse with each passing day. Here is a little of his story in his own words....

      "I have practiced internal medicine and clinical cardiology in Dallas, Texas for 44 years. My wife and I have reared and educated three children and have lived a comfortable life, commensurate with my education and the demands of my profession. I have always felt privileged to be a physician.
     I chose a primary-care field because it represented the cornerstone of traditional medicine - taking care of patients. I have been a medical advocate, yielding a challenging and satisfying career. My specialty is diagnostic. I find out what is wrong and then, only when necessary, refer the patient to a specialist. I follow problems (heart disease, diabetes, hypertension) over a long period and promote preventive measures. A special bond is created, resulting in patient trust and security."
     "In recent years, since the advent of a federal health care system and managed care, my colleagues and I have observed that this backbone of the health care system is collapsing."
      You know, he is right! I know from my own personal experiences, medical doctors are becoming a vanishing, dying breed. Whenever I need to call to make an appointment it has become necessary to request to see a medical professional with "M.D." at the end of his or her name.
       When you call and do not request and MD you get tossed around from "physicians assistant" or a person with  "Dr." preceding their name, but they are not "MD" doctors. Then there is the other group who define themselves by their name with "OD" at the end. This stand for osteopathic doctor or what I refer to as medical school drop outs. These are the new choices we are given today.
      Of course, there is always the resident nurse who thinks he or she can treat you the same as any doctor could. It becomes very mind boggling!
     "Fewer and fewer physicians will be around to take care of the aging population."
     "Morale has declined among existing primary-care physicians. Many take second jobs to bolster their incomes - doing exams for insurance companies or taking administrative jobs. The once challenging and satisfying career of caring for patients is nearing extinction, expecially as older clinicians retire."
     "Our present health care system is large and dysfunctional, with little chance that it will be fixed soon. Our lawmakers are only vaguely aware of the increasing demands and only recently approved a five percent increase in Medicare reimbursements for primary care.
      In the meantime, my rent has increased by twenty five percent and to a lesser degree so has equipment, supplies and utilities.
     The demise of the primary-care physician cannot continue. The reimbursement system needs a radical change. By increasing the income of the primary-care physician, more young physicians will be drawn into this specialty. This increase will necessitate fewer expensive subspecialists, resulting in a decrease of the total health cost and a more cost-effective system.