Changing doctors …

What a shame isn’t it?

@dbeshears1 Debbie, your frustrations are on point, and it IS the medical field. About 1/3 of the neurologists, I've seen I would say are close to normal and trust me, I use the word close with a degree of hesitation. Another 1/3 are "off" a little...it's like something you can't put your finger on. I often wonder why they entered the field they did?? The remaining 1/3 are about as normal as you could expect, and I've been to all three categories. My current neurologist wants to see me once a year. My wife is having a heart procedure in early Oct so I had to cancel my once-a-year Oct appointment and I explained the reason for the cancelation. I'm told...if you cancel, we can't get you back in again until May. Really? I snapped back and said my wife's issue is more important than this appointment and put me on the cancelation list for November and I hung up...well, Ok I slammed down the phone. My wife said time to start looking for a new neurologist. So, you are not alone with your frustrations. I'm sure others have similar stories. If I can't have confidence in any doctor or their business practices, I'm moving on. All my other doctors, no problem at all. Why do I want to see a doctor who can't see me for 8 months. Meanwhile, I'm looking for a new neurologist because they will not call me in November.

That's terrible! Any doctor booked up 6 months is a doctor taking on too many patients. And that could also affect quality of care too. My gastroenterologist is like this and I dumped him. The entire practice is entirely overbooked and even calling the office you have like 20 patients ahead of you. I just got an appt for a new one at our very reputable teaching university within a month. Best wishes for your wife's surgery,

I was recommended to an endocrinologist by my primary, and guess when my appt is?
Feb 6 th 2024!!
I made the appt in early Aug.
Good thing it’s not urgent!

You said, " Any doctor booked up 6 months is a doctor taking on too many patients." In reality, in group and clinical practices, the doctors have little or no control over the number of patients they have. The practice director decides. They also determine the amount of time allotted to each patient, often at the demand of insurers or the corporation that owns the clinic. Doctors become overwhelmed and those can afford to leave, causing even more scarcity. Or they, become chronically overworked, their own health fails, and they retire earlier than planned. We have personal friends in both categories.

And in many areas, there may be only one (or in many cases, none) group, clinic or doc. Many rural areas in this country have less than one doctor per county - some are lucky to have a nurse practitioner a few days a week. Specialists are even more scarce outside urban areas, so they feel even more pressure to see everyone that they can. Unfortunately, new patients, unless referred by another doctor or hospital for an urgent or life-threatening situation, go to the back of the line.

This is a fact of health care in the modern world, not just in a few cities or states. It is true in Canada and Europe as well. We have had Canadian friends who waited as long as a year for "elective" hip or knee replacement surgery - when you are in pain, it doesn't feel elective!
Our cousin in Europe had to wait one year for an appointment for hand surgery. She will not be allowed to schedule therapy until after the operation. It should begin at 6 weeks, but the wait will be more like 6 months.

So there is a shortage of care everywhere. And of care providers - from nursing assistants to nurses, to ER docs, to surgeons. The pressures and working conditions are brutal.

My daughters are school nurses in an urban setting each serving over 1200 students but think of them as a cross between Mom with ice packs and bandaids, Urgent Care for those without insurance, an ER for the inevitable teen fights, drugs and sports injuries, and a Case Manager for kids coming to school with complex medical conditions. All in 8 hours a day without a backup staff or overtime pay. They are chronically unable to fill 25% of the jobs in that district - wonder why?

Sue

That's terrible! Any doctor booked up 6 months is a doctor taking on too many patients. And that could also affect quality of care too. My gastroenterologist is like this and I dumped him. The entire practice is entirely overbooked and even calling the office you have like 20 patients ahead of you. I just got an appt for a new one at our very reputable teaching university within a month. Best wishes for your wife's surgery,

You said, " Any doctor booked up 6 months is a doctor taking on too many patients." In reality, in group and clinical practices, the doctors have little or no control over the number of patients they have. The practice director decides. They also determine the amount of time allotted to each patient, often at the demand of insurers or the corporation that owns the clinic. Doctors become overwhelmed and those can afford to leave, causing even more scarcity. Or they, become chronically overworked, their own health fails, and they retire earlier than planned. We have personal friends in both categories.

And in many areas, there may be only one (or in many cases, none) group, clinic or doc. Many rural areas in this country have less than one doctor per county - some are lucky to have a nurse practitioner a few days a week. Specialists are even more scarce outside urban areas, so they feel even more pressure to see everyone that they can. Unfortunately, new patients, unless referred by another doctor or hospital for an urgent or life-threatening situation, go to the back of the line.

This is a fact of health care in the modern world, not just in a few cities or states. It is true in Canada and Europe as well. We have had Canadian friends who waited as long as a year for "elective" hip or knee replacement surgery - when you are in pain, it doesn't feel elective!
Our cousin in Europe had to wait one year for an appointment for hand surgery. She will not be allowed to schedule therapy until after the operation. It should begin at 6 weeks, but the wait will be more like 6 months.

So there is a shortage of care everywhere. And of care providers - from nursing assistants to nurses, to ER docs, to surgeons. The pressures and working conditions are brutal.

My daughters are school nurses in an urban setting each serving over 1200 students but think of them as a cross between Mom with ice packs and bandaids, Urgent Care for those without insurance, an ER for the inevitable teen fights, drugs and sports injuries, and a Case Manager for kids coming to school with complex medical conditions. All in 8 hours a day without a backup staff or overtime pay. They are chronically unable to fill 25% of the jobs in that district - wonder why?

Sue