Legal training teaches that physicians must take control of their own destiny

I am a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist who has been in private practice in Orange County, Calif., for the past 11 years. I have a very busy practice, but with the direction that the practice of medicine is going, I decided to attend law school at night. Last weekend, I graduated as the valedictorian of the Whittier Law School.

It was a lot of hard work, but worth every minute. The knowledge of law has taught me how the field of law has buried its tentacles into every profession. In this day and age, we are all at the mercy of lawmakers, and our profession is in danger. Every political candidate is speaking of nationalized health care, and "free health for all." No one cares to inquire how much a person must sacrifice to become eligible to provide this service, and why they should not be adequately reimbursed for their efforts.

It is the providers that are supposed to take all the pay cuts, and doctors with 12 years of graduate training must abide by what the insurance company bean-counters dictate. Doctors have never been very good at business, but they are even more inept when it comes to fighting for themselves through the law. It is time for all of us doctors to unite and demand better treatment.

If not, soon all of us will be extinct; only to be replaced by nurse practitioners and PAs with less than half the training, knowledge, or at times, intelligence. When we, as doctors, are 90 years old and in need of medical treatment, I think we would rather be treated by a real doctor, who is happy with his job, and is being reimbursed appropriately.

If there are any physicians with interests of making a change, as I am, we should start now, before it's too late.

Kathy M. Anderson, MD, JD , Costa Mesa, Calif.

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/06/04/edlt0604.htm.