(Title is a shout out to Deepti, Cassidy, and Dani)
My faith in our health care system has been recently been restored. I know what you're thinking: "you're probably the only person in American who can honestly say that." And maybe you're right, but maybe I just have awesome doctors with a pretty decent insurance plan.
Case Study 1: Dr. Bickel, hand surgeon.
In July of 2007 I visited some friends in Chicago for a weekend. I became incredibly drunk last night and insisted on starting a physical fight with my fried, Dan. It ended with me trying to kick him, him catching my foot, me losing balance and falling to the ground, landing on my hands as your parents always tell you to do. Ouch. Something snapped in my hand and it was time to go home. I refused to ice it with the frozen steak in Dan's fridge, so I went to bed and woke up with a throbbing pain in my wrist. After using a brace on and off for a couple of months, I decided it must have been a bad sprain and it was all better. Sort of. Fast forward about one year later and I am living in SF with a great job and I finally have health insurance, and my wrist still hurts if I move it a certain way. Enter Dr. Bickel and the x-ray machine. Turns out my scaphoid bone (that little bone that connects your thumb to your wrist) has been broken into two pieces for quite some time. Dr. Bickel tells me I need a surgery that will graft bone from my radius to replace the bone in my scaphoid, that I'll be in a cast for about 7 weeks, then a brace, and will have 12 weeks of physical therapy. And I have to use this machine called a "bone stimulator" for 30 minutes every day. All and all, after insurance coverage everything cost about $600. That's including the 100 pills of vicodin they have me :) The cost without insurance would have been horrifying, my guess is $20,000.
Case Study 2: Dr. Stephanie Scott, family practice, copay: $10
When I first got my health insurance, they assigned some random doctor to me who was cold and stubborn and stuck up and couldn't speak to me in proper English. I called my health care company and was able to be transferred to a lovely woman that I found on Yelp. I made an appointment and went in on a Tuesday morning before work. She gave me all the referrals I needed, including a very painful Hepatitis C vaccine. I recently found out that she is leaving the practice and I will be re-assigned to another female doctor at the office. At least they knew I didn't want a male doc (no offense, Jeremy).
Case Study 3: Dr. Katherine Gregory, Gynecologist, copay: $0
It's pretty obvious that this type of doctor's visit can be awkward or uncomfortable for women, but I have to say I love going to Dr. Gregory. She is efficient, polite, doesn't ask too many weird questions, gets the job done and sends you on your way to the 11th floor for lab work. She then called me less than two days later to give me my test results. Basically, she just makes the experience much more pleasant than expected.
Case Study 4: Dr. Ng, Dermatologist, copay: $10
In and out in ten minutes. I didn't have to undress. I wasn't lectured on wearing sunblock. I was given the prescriptions I needed without any questions asked. And I didn't feel rushed or that anything went overlooked. She also gave me a lollipop.
In conclusion, although our health care system may be severely F'ed up and expensive for those who don't have a health insurance package as economical as mine, it's nice to know that the quality of doctor's hasn't gone down as much as I had expected it would. So, to all you med school students: Keep up the good work! Efficiency and cleanliness are key! And lollipops are always a nice touch.
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