And it has been my experience that pompous and arrogant physicians often know the least about taking care of patients.

Please just don’t tell us that the “thousand epidurals” you performed were with “a smile” to 14 year old Medicaid patients with no prenatal care at 3 a.m. with our tax dollars.

The ONLY reason this anesthetist might have been better to hold his tongue was that this occurred at a private clinic rather than at a NHS clinic. Stupid is as stupid does, but cash is king.

I’m not old enough to remember those days. You guys made that bargain in the 60s.

“Many of us will be much better off to receive the paycheck from your hand not the insurers.”

No, many of you won’t, because you have no idea of the concepts of “customer service” nor the difficulties in having to collect from individuals. When you don’t get paid now, you file class actions against insurance companies who almost certainly can pay. Or, like Anon 4:09, you despise your patients so much and have so little understanding of business that you’ll never last on your own.

Physicians are merely fattened cattle walking into the slaughter for a corrupt lawyer industry to parasitize off.

# posted by Gasman : 11:17 AM”

Exhibit “A” as to why physicians should never give up the third party payer system. Too many of you lack the customer service skills to make it in the first party private pay world.

That may be so-but calling me stupid is out of line-not to mention that unless you are the anesthesiologist in question I just might be right–I suspect I am.

I respect what you say and think-but the thousand gives me some insight as to what probably DID occur.

If you know different–then tell me.

No hard feelings.

A thousand epidurals or not to your credit, you weren’t there, so your bloviations are suspect. Once again.

You would do whatever ideas you have more credit if you weren’t so irritatingly pompous and judgmental in your delivery. If you are even half as smart as you say you are, then I expect you would have already figured this out.

Most experienced anesthesiologists would encounter no particular degree of difficulty performing an epidural on a coughing, moving patient. Why don’t you ask around if you don’t understand this.

By applying steady pressure on the syringe-loss of resistance signifying entry into the epidural space can be achieved even with a significant amout of movement on the part of the patient.

It has been my personal experience that doctors who lash out at patients when things are not going smoothly-are often frustrated at their own technical inadequacies.

Chastising a patient because she smokes – on the day of the procedure – is not going to magically restore her lung function.

Actually I’m quite smart.

Get yourself into therapy – before this destroys your life.