Dr. Ehrenfeld’s gravitation to medicine arose from a simple vision. One in which doctors had time for their patients, the patient/doctor relationship was a sacred one, and caring extended beyond the 15 minute visit now common in the medical industrial machine.
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The relationship between a patient and their doctor is at the heart of this vision, and it is the bedrock upon which every other decision in the office is made. It is based partially on personal experience- doctors in his world knew their patient’s families as well as life stories, sometimes even being invited to family weddings or other celebrations- and partially on a vision, of what medicine could be when it is allowed to keep its humanity. A place where doctors can make eye contact with their charges instead of spending most of the visit looking at a screen and writing notes. Where a patient could feel like a human instead of a number.

This vision is far from  the reality of the current medical model, leaving both patients and practitioners deeply unhappy. Patients feel unheard and unseen. Especially if dealing with complex issues. They are often shuffled from provider to provider, fighting with insurance companies and frustrated by a system that does little to help them navigate what is often the most stressful periods of their lives. And patients are not the only ones deeply unhappy. Most of the people I know who have dedicated their lives to medicine, did so out of a desire to help people at the most fundamental levels. We entered medicine to be with people at their most vulnerable, to help them through their most challenging times, and most of all to care for them.

But how can we do that while spinning on this hamster wheel which is the current state of medicine, needing to see an inhumane number of patients just to keep the lights on, juggling insurance company demands designed to frustrate, while also needing to enter reams of data into the patient record for every visit.

It’s hard to pinpoint where medicine took a wrong turn in providing this fundamental service but one thing is certain, the current medical model does not align with the needs of patients or their caregivers.
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