Comments on: No room at the doctors’ office

By: Anne

Anne — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 06:05:18 +0000

Thank you WestTXIntermediate. Much appreciate the details.

By: J.J.

J.J. — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 22:36:34 +0000

Mr. Bill: Charleston, WV, home of the famous “Charlie West” (CRW) airport. Famous among airline pilots, anyway. It’s one of those “special airports” that requires a pilot who has landed there be in the crew when you make you first approach and landing there.

“The layout of Yeager Airport is once again trying for pilots.
************ The lone runway at this humble facility is positioned atop a plateau with a shear, 300-foot drop-off.”

It’s listed as one the six scariest airports in the U.S.
https://www.worldatlas.com/places/america-s-6-scariest-airports.html#Yeager%20Airport,%20Charleston,%20West%20Virginia

I landed there a few times back in the day. Of course, I was an old carrier pilot, so was used to challenging approaches and landings. Still, I remember it much more so than the routine airports.

By: neo

neo — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 21:51:15 +0000

Anne; West TX Intermediate Crude:

In my personal experience, DOs tend to be nicer and just as knowledgeable as MDs, on the average anyway.

By: West TX Intermediate Crude

West TX Intermediate Crude — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 20:46:17 +0000

Anne-
MDs and DOs study the same pre-med courses. As a general rule, with a LOT of exceptions, the average pre-med would prefer to go to an MD over a DO school. There is a lot of overlap between the academic qualifications of MD and DO students, but on the whole MDs are a step above DO students in their GPAs and MCAT scores. Curricula are similar, but DO students have extra courses in musculoskeletal manipulation that most forget the minute they graduate, and roll their eyes when asked to discuss it.
Residency training is more important then where a doc goes to med school. Many residencies are now mixed MD and DO; the Match Protocol that sorts graduating medical school students into residencies is open to both without any difference. The primary place where DOs are at a disadvantage is at MD academic centers.
DOs go into primary care at a higher rate than MDs. They like to say that primary care is their mission, but some of it is that specialty residencies can be very competitive and MD students typically score higher on the exams used to sort them out.
All that said, if anyone followed 100 MDs and 100 DOs around their hospitals and clinics for a month, it would be difficult to tell them apart without ID badges.
I have had excellent care from both MDs and DOs, and they are close enough in practice and qualifications that it should not be a factor in choosing a physician, if you’re lucky enough to have a choice.

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 18:12:32 +0000

Lots of good doctors and hospitals here in Charleston, SC. In part because of good overall quality of life.

By: Anne

Anne — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 17:17:00 +0000

We have two hospitals here in town–one is Catholic and the other was a non-profit. .About 6 or 7 years ago the non-profit was taken over by a “for profit” company. My doctor moved back east after telling me “I made more money here working for a non-profit than I do now working for a “for profit” company. In the years since two more doctors have come and gone. Recently all the male doctors left. It seems the female in charge of this local hospital is not well qualified to manage such a large system. I have heard this from two male doctors so there must be an issue there. However, not to worry every position has been re-filled by women. Most of these women are Doctors of Osteopathic medicine.

Please correct me if I am wrong. It is my understanding that a DO does the same pre med study in undergraduate school (B.Sci), they also study alongside MD students for four years of medical training at a medical school. However, rather than doing a more intense one-year internship in a traditional medical field they switch over to a school of Osteopathic medicine to study those principles for one year. Whereas another doctor would go on to a more focused study of some traditional medicine for that year.

It is interesting in this town now run completely by women, that only women doctors are being hired to fill empty positions, and almost all of them are DO as opposed to MD. I would love to hear your thoughts about this. If you have more info about DO please post. I am trying to stay unbiased.

By: Art Deco

Art Deco — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 17:04:42 +0000

Stay where your friends are unless you cannot afford it. Moving near proximate relatives is a satisfactory idea. If I understand correctly, yours are in southern California, which is wretched. I assume you have satisfactory social skills in domestic situations and need no suggestions. Just hoping you're keeping on your daughter-in-law's good side. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to inveigle your son to move near you without offending your daughter-in-law.

By: BrooklynBoy

BrooklynBoy — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 16:25:49 +0000

Remaining in a Blue area because of your Doctors is not something to sneer at as mine saved my life. I have had several Doctors change medical groups or retire and it is distressing. When you find a new primary care physician you have to not only get to know and trust him but also have your medical records transferred and most imprtantly make sure he is in-network with your insurance company.

By: Occasional Commenter

Occasional Commenter — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 16:23:43 +0000

If you’re retired military, you get tossed into Medicare when you hit 65. I found out the hard way that many doctors won’t take new Medicare patients due to the extra paperwork and slow reimbursement. The saving grace is that your secondary becomes Tricare Prime, which usually covers whatever Medicare won’t. But first, you have to find someone who’ll take Medicare.

By: West TX Intermediate Crude

West TX Intermediate Crude — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 14:18:37 +0000

Molly Brown mentioned Medicare Advantage.
My advice: Avoid if possible. It’s great so long as one stays healthy, but they make some of their money by restricting care far more than Traditional Medicare.
You will get some freebies, to be sure, but when it’s time for that MRI or specialty referral or surgery, you will have to jump through many more hoops than Trad Medicare. Advantage programs have contracts with PTs, rehabs, and other ancillary services which means that you will get the service, but the service provider will be the one with the contract, not the one that is best in your area, most convenient, or most available.
The reason that your mailbox and inbox is being inundated with offers for Advantage Program has absolutely nothing to do with the $600 sign-on bonus or the $300 continuation fee that the program gets for each customer, it’s all for your own good (/sarc).