Physician Surplus: The Czech Story

Physician surplus and its remedies.

Through the passage of time (and the passing of an examination or two), resident physicians transform themselves into unrestricted practitioners. Whether you see this as a good thing or not depends on your perspective. To the residents themselves, this metamorphosis is no less beautiful than a chrysalis becoming a butterfly. Others, though, may deem it a variation of the kitten/cat problem arti...

The physician "surplus" and the decline of professional dominance.

This essay examines the relationship that Paul Starr hypothesized in The Social Tranformation of American Medicine (1982) between the supply of physicians (both allopaths and osteopaths) and their professional dominance, a relationship, he argued, that began to turn negative about the time of the passage of Medicaid and Medicare in 1965. In particular, Starr posited that an increasing number of...

The story of 'doctor,' 'physician,' and 'surgeon'.

In ancient Greece there was a group of philosophers called Physikos. They were noted for gaining their knowledge of nature from thinking rather than studying it first hand. From these thoughts they taught biology and medicine, and were called doctors ("to teach "); their students, "physicus", or physician. Physicians who worked with their hands were called "surgeons." Being well versed in the t...

Nurse-physician relationships in hospitals: 20,000 nurses tell their story.

"Good" relationships between nurses and physicians are important to high-quality patient care. Five different types of nurse-physician relationships exist on clinical units. What are the differences in the nurse-physician climate between magnet and comparison hospitals? What are the organizational structures and best leadership practices that help nurses develop collegial and collaborative rela...

Best English story by a family physician: premature.