Episode 18: Can work be its own reward?

The rewards of medicine are sort of obvious: taking care of other people is one of the great privileges of life, and the fact that we get paid at all to do it sometimes seems like an unexpected, unnecessary pleasure. But the fact is that medicine asks more from us than simple patient care, and making that worthwhile is another question all together. As it is, there's no incentive to do anything more than just get by in medical residency, for instance...no matter how hard you work, you spend the same amount of time training, and get the same pay. The impact of this - a complete deviation, after all, from the American Dream - is underappreciated. I try to appreciate it a little bit this week.

The article I mention in the podcast, about how one hospital is trying incentive programs for surgeons, is here.

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Next episode en route...

Hi All,

Look for a new episode on Monday...spare time's been hard to come by lately.


- D, M.D.

Medicine and Literature

In advance of my next podcast (probably this weekend), this is a nice story in the New York Times about why doctors want to tell stories, and about some of the ones who do so better than most. Enjoy!

Medicine on TV

This is the best medical TV program I've seen in a long time...it's at least as accurate as Grey's Anatomy.

Episode 17: You Grow Accustomed To The Smell

Here's the story of how a young doctor-in-training learns to keep standing...and at what cost.

As always, I love hearing your thoughts.

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