no2thdk999 said:
I think dentistry can be more business oriented in that very few dentists are employees. Most are solo practicioners and are solely responsible for ensuring the financial viability of their office. Dentistry has remained a cottage industry while medicine to a large extent has been conglomerated. Since many physicians are employed by a hospital or group practice IMHO they might lack that ownership mindset that would motivate them to be more involved in business activities. I would doubt if the radiologist cares what the new CT scan machine costs because the hospital paid for it, but you better believe the dentist is going to do a cost analysis on every piece of equipment he/she gets because he's writing the check.
I also think that since dentistry has had less invasion from managed care that dentists are more able to use business savy to increase their bottom line. We have a wider lattitude in setting a fee schedule since it's not dictated by what HMO's will pay. We have an incentive to produce a happy customer (patient) so they want to come back again. Hospitals usually are the only game in town (at least in smaller towns) and people go wherever their insurance tells them to.
Lastly medicine is seen (right or wrong) as a birthright in this country. A lot of people see it as distasteful to talk about making money off of other people's sickness. Dentistry at least for now is seen as optional and thus it's less offensive to talk about making a profit at it.
If you want a medical field that probably also requires more of a business accumen the closest I can think of would be plastic surgery b/c it's not need based and there's less insurance influence.
If you want to see who's got the market cornered on greed take a look at the attorneys!
JMHO
Rob
Thanks....at last, an answer. I can see your point. Dentistry is more of a cottage industry still, so most dentists own and run their practice by themselves. That is a huge financial risk for most and they probably worry about as much or more the business side as they do about the patient side.
I guess the physicians I have talked with are mostly hospital affliated, and don't see need to worry as much about the costs involved.
I think you made a really good point that since dentistry is considered a "luxury", people find it less offensive to hear dentists talk about money.
But I think the distaste for money in medicine stems from another reason, and that is the perceived overcompensation of doctor. B/c doctors, in the eyes of society, are well compensated, they look greedy to complain about being underpaid for performing life saving procedures, which, as you stated, is considered a 'right', and not a 'luxury'.
In my parents' native country, doctors talk about money all the time, and this is in part due to their poor compensation. Nurses have a greater tendency to discuss their pay, and I think it's b/c they know they are so underpaid.
Both of these factors, I think contributes to the premed attitude that talking about money as it relates to medicine is in poor taste.
Of course, I would like to consider more open minded about the decisions in my life. Money is definintely a factor in any career related decision I make, and it is a factor in my decision to go into medicine.....but I also consider my interest in science, my love of learning, and yes, the infamous, "I want to help people" (more like I want to interact with people) to be an even more important reasons. Sorry, if that sounds too pretentious and hypocritical!
