Over the weekend we stumbled upon a story titled “Stop the anti-doctor media bias.” It’s a fascinating read that showcases how misinformation and half-truths have led to a noticeable anti-doctor wave of stories in the media. The piece cites stories about “major opioid busts from pill pusher doctors” and “doctors overtreating patients” in order to bill for more care, but then the story author explains how each story fails to paint the true picture of the situation. Many of the “doctors” that were arrested weren’t licensed physicians, but they were called doctors in the original piece, and while some might say a doctor overtreats, just imagine the headline if a patient’s cancer diagnosis went undetected for another month because a doctor told them to take a wait and see approach instead of ordering additional testing.
In many instances, doctors can’t win. And as attention spans get shorter and headlines become more bombastic in hopes of grabbing that attention, sometimes writers go for the low hanging fruit, which is outrage. They write the headline “Seven doctors arrested in massive opioid prescription scheme,” or “Felony charges for doctor accused of groping patient” in order to get the masses riled up. A good story makes you feel something, and sometimes misplaced anger and outrage is preferred to a well-written, thoroughly sourced informative piece that really dives into the specifics of the ordeal. Outrage and website clicks can do more for the bottom line than the boring truth.
Why Doctors?
We’re not defending every single doctor or medical worker that you read about in these stories. We know there are bad apples in our industry, but find us an industry that doesn’t have some. There are plumbers that overcharge, non-profit employees who embezzle and managers that cross the line with sexual harassment in the office. No profession is perfectly good, so why are doctors consistently taking the heat in the media?
There’s little hard evidence as to why, but it doesn’t seem that hard to reason why there seems to be a media bias. We have this picture in our head of what it’s like to be a doctor. They make a lot of money, they get to play the hero and save lives, and they probably drive a flashy sports car. There’s a certain draw to reading stories about the downfall of the rich and successful, and that seems to be what the media is going for.
However, that perfect picture of what it’s like to be a physician couldn’t be further from the truth. For starters, doctors are often overburdened by their caseload, as evidenced by the increasing rates of doctor burnout. That’s a big reason why cases of depression continue to rise among doctors and medical professionals. However, physicians rarely seek treatment for their mental health. After all, they are a physician, they should know how to care for themselves.
Moreover, there’s a stigma that comes with being a physician that is receiving mental health treatment. The doctor doesn’t want to be judged by fellow employees or patients if word gets out he’s seeking treatment for depression. Even if the doctor is one of the few who do seek mental health treatment, oftentimes it’s not enough. Did you know that doctors have the highest suicide rate of any profession, and it’s not even close?
And then there’s the money. What a doctor bills for isn’t what he or she collects, and while there often is a push from management to log more billable time, that again circles back to fatigue and doctor burnout. With the rising cost of medical school and the commitment it takes to become a doctor, many medical professionals enter the workforce with boatloads of debt, as the 4-year tuition average for medical school at a public institution is roughly a quarter of a million dollars, and that doesn’t even factor in undergrad costs. It’s not uncommon for a physician to enter the workforce with upwards of half a million dollars in debt. And because of the high cost of medical school, fewer students are working to get into medical school. This is leading to a doctor shortage, and who has to pick up the slack? The overworked and mentally fatigued physician who can’t take time off work to address his burnout because he needs the money to keep paying off his loans.
These stories about the true lives of physicians rarely get told because they don’t won’t sell newspapers or garner clicks. It’s easier to read a story about one bad pill pusher than it is to dive into the complexities of physician burnout or mental health issues. It’s uncertain how we can stop the spread of misinformation and media bias, but it starts with blogs like this and being as transparent as possible. Physicians and patients need to hold media companies responsible for these half truths and pushed agendas. Creating outrage from misinformation does nothing to move us forward as a society.
