I harped on this before, now another physician feels the same way:

As a practicing general internist, I feel like an endangered species.

I am in my mid-50s, and planning my retirement. I have watched many of my colleagues leave the practice of general internal medicine, and I have seen few younger colleagues replace them.

There are many factors that cause general internists to leave the practice, but one of the most important is the fact that the leadership of the American College of Physicians and the American Board of Internal Medicine is so out of touch with practicing internists today. I have had to completely relearn medicine since starting my practice, and most of what I have learned has come from the family practice journals and seminars.

The leaders of the field of internal medicine have isolated themselves from the real world, and, at this point in my career, I view any initiative from the ACP and the ABIM as more or less a waste of time.

I am almost certain that there was virtually no input from practicing internists into the new “Comprehensive Care Practice Improvement Module,” and as such, it will be one more grand and wasted gesture from the ABIM.

My suggestion to both the ABIM and the ACP is that the leaders spend 2 weeks actually working in a doctor’s office. I am certain they would run back to their labs in horror after such an exposure. But perhaps it would silence them for a few years and let the real doctors actually work in peace.