Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Is there a doctor in the house?

On a less than pleasant note; we recently received a letter from our doctor stating that he was going to a new practice (within the local hospital) and someone else was going to take over his old practice. His letter informed us that his replacement was a PA (physicians’ assistant). So, what does that mean? And shouldn’t that cost less? I have a feeling it won’t.

The other day I was writing about aging and change and how the two aren’t necessarily compatible. Now it’s crunch time, for us. Here’s some change (a new kind of ‘doctor’) and what are we going to do? We’re from a generation that believed implicitly in doctors. They were supreme. You didn’t question them. There was no partnership with the patient. The doctor was responsible for your health and you did as you were told.

My first instinct is to see if we can find another doctor, a ‘real’ one. So I have to fight that urge and try to accept some change in our lives.

2 comments:

  1. Not all change is good. I have seen PA's but they always worked in conjunction with a "real" doctor. Maybe that just gave me some false security. I just got a new doctor and she actually sees all her patients herself, no PA. She looks like she just graduated from High School, but I saw her diploma from medical school. Their practice is a bit different. All appointments are for the current day or next day. When you are ready to go to the doctor, just call and you get in tomorrow. Unless you need to today, then come on in.

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  2. Nice! I suppose I could fly to Phoenix?

    Well, this PA is supervised, but I'm still dubious...and we were really happy with our doctor.

    http://www.brownandhahn.com/drhahninfo.html

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