“We’re all aging in this community, and in another three to five years, the physicians are going to start to retire,” he says. “ … We’re a dying breed from the school of hard knocks and experience, and we’re being phased out in favor of technology-savvy younger doctors, for whom basic diagnostic skills are downplayed.
“There used to be more of a sense of camaraderie in medicine,” he notes. “Back in the day, when I first started here, we considered medicine a calling and not a job.”
For Dr. Vizcarra, the HM model of inpatient care represents a sea change in the connections between physicians and their patients.
“Now, in many small towns, you don’t see your doctor anymore when you’re in the hospital,” she says, adding disconnects can be magnified in small towns. “I try to compensate by providing patients with caring, compassionate, common-sense medicine when they are in the hospital. Usually, after the first day, it’s not an issue.”
Larry Beresford is a freelance writer in Oakland, Calif.
References
- The Leapfrog Group announces annual top hospitals list. The Leapfrog Group website. Available at: http://www.leapfroggroup.org/news/leapfrog_news/4810593. Accessed March 31, 2012.
- Joynt KE, Harris Y, Orav EJ, Jha AK. Quality of care and patient outcomes in critical access rural hospitals. JAMA. 2011;306(1):45-52.