In my role as surgical consultant - SMO (Senior Medical Officer), I am given respect not afforded all doctors (MD's). Non-surgeon physicians are referred to as Dr. Five registrars (resident doctors in the US) - with experience ranging from 3-9 years post medical school - report to my group of six staff surgeons. Two of these registrars are classified as "non-training" - trying to enter a 5-year surgical residency. In my first 2 days of orientation, it was made clear to me - in two private consultative meetings - that my job was to clear the wait list. Kiwis have tremendous patience in working through the medical system. I am currently holding clinics for patients referred 7-9 months ago for surgical conditions. Many patients come to clinic having forgotten what their surgical condition was! Others have acute conditions that should have been taken care of 7-9 months ago. The realities of socialized medicine!
Tom - Good to see an action shot of you! I'm interested in your Kiwi patients and their attitude towards their healthcare system. Do they have significant copays? It seems to me that most Canadiens are willing to accept the waits to know that have guaranteed coverage.
ReplyDeleteBack in CDA we learned that Ganz has resigned from NSQIP leadership and we expect Bob or Ed to be offered the position. We have also all signed the trauma contract with a $500/day on call. Marcus seems to be fitting in well but Mike has been unhappy with his lighter workload.
We are bummed that almost all of our snow has melted. No snowshoing yet. Merry Xmas-Tim and Wanda
Welcome to the world of blogging, Dad! The differences between the US and New Zealand are pretty striking. Do they have opinions about the US health care system?
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