I'm coming out...about my profession

Until this point, I've never mentioned what I do for a living. I'm not embarrassed about my profession, but it does have a tendency to change what people think of me and how they interact with me, and I don't like that. By now you're probably thinking of less than honorable (or honourable for my Candian and British readers) professions such as mafia hitman or Republican politician, but I'm neither of those. I'm a physician. I practice internal medicine, which is primary care for adults. Much of my time is spent treating chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, arthritis, etc. I also treat everything else - colds, pneumonia, skin problems, orthopedic problems, abdominal problems, psychiatric problems, etc. I also try to do preventive care, but to be honest that doesn't seem to be high priority for many patients.

I decided to do primary care because I like patients - I like getting to know them, following them over the years, treating entire families. Many specialists seem to want to do procedures, or think of patients as just the body part that they deal with - "Here's the injured knee that needs ACL repair" instead of seeing the whole patient and realizing that the patient with the torn ACL also just lost his job and won't have insurance much longer, or that patient's mother is dying of cancer so isn't able to do the physical therapy that the specialist wants.

I like my job, most days. Sometimes though it seems that I'm racing from one person to the next, not able to spend the time that patients want or need. It's impossible to do the work in the amount of time that it is supposed to take, so I get up early, by 5 AM, to come in early and get to work. I try not to stay late, so that I can come home and spend time with Leo and read him his bedtime story. I worry that my family life suffers some with my work schedule.

So now my profession is out there for all to know. As a note to two of my readers, thanks for giving me the little push yesterday to share this with everyone. Thanks M&J.