Just like the concept of staying in one city for your entire life has changed, so has the idea of remaining with one job, company, or profession. People take jobs for diverse reasons, but all share the need for viable employment. The lucky ones, like me, have a knowledge base and experience to build upon. Stories abound about HR departments, particularly those in high tech, being adverse to retaining older workers. Yet, even in the medical field, older, experienced doctors are not assured of job security. As the saying goes, change is the only constant in life.
Medicine has Changed
The insidious control by massive, for-profit healthcare corporations is aimed at increasing profits and affects everyone. Even the terminology of medical practitioners — physicians, physician assistants, and nurses — has changed. This diverse group of highly trained and responsible professionals now falls under the moniker of providers. It’s not a tag that I appreciate. I worked hard in medical school and became a doctor. To commoditize myself is to cheapen what I do and why I do it.
Surrender Power
Therefore, to surrender power and meekly accept the designation of provider, rather than physician, simply emphasize loss of control and professionalism. I believe this category designation represents an administrative and financial power play. It implies removal of free will, autonomy, and relegates health care professionals to be interchangeable cogs. I find it an undermining of professional authority and disempowering. It’s also a clear reason why I write under a pen name.
Doing My Part
As a realist, I also realized that as one voice, in independent medical practice, I had zero chance to redirect the focus of the American medical system. Those in power value silent conformity over expressions of independence or dissent by physicians. Sadly, current medical practice can feel like one is wearing a straight-jacket rather than a garment one would voluntarily don.
While I can’t single-handedly change a changing industry, I can write about its darker side. I write medical thrillers. Perhaps, my pen name is fantasy. Like a Marvel superhero, it’s time for me to morph into a different creature and take on the dark side of medicine.