Joey M.D.

I believe that medical schools should have a subject, Medical Marketing, that teaches medical students how to effectively set up a practice after graduating.    Not all doctors earn enough to support their families.  In fact, most doctors start their practices not knowing what to do and losing a lot of money.  I should know, I went through a time when I the money I pay for clinic rent was bigger than the money I earn.

Yes, practicing medicine is a service profession.  But to force doctors to practice charity all the time is unpractical.  Doctors are people too, we need to eat, we need to pay for a place to live, we need to support our own families.  Not to mention that our practice itself costs money — rentals, gasoline, secretary’s wages, memberships, further trainings…the list goes on.  There should be a balance between rendering service and earning enough.  A lot of Pinoy doctors leave because they don’t earn as much as people think we do.

I think doctors should really know how to market their practice.  But how do we go about this?  What would be considered ethical in terms of  marketing resources and material?  Would  direct mail medical practice marketing , an accepted practice in other countries, be acceptable in our society?  If not, what are the “allowed” but effective ways to effectively get the word out about your practice?  How do you manage your overhead, your costs and your taxes?  How could the government come up with better health care for all?  How would they manage to compensate their health care workers properly?

I really hope that there is some way that we could address this issues.  Maybe once these issues are resolved, we’d get more doctors to regain their zest for for their profession.  Maybe by then,