The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1888-06-16
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
Least Profitable or any from N Finnn-
cIaI Standpoint.

The medical profession is, taken as
whole, the least profitable of any in mon
etary point of view. For person who
seeks riches, it is really the last one to enter.
1t is true some have grown wealthy in the
legitimate practice of medicine, but such
are very rare exceptions, and not one In a
thousand is so fortunate. Really, COM
Portable living is about all the average ply
stefan can expect, and before he can attain
that he must meet many hardships and
know much self-denial. If people would
only consider the sums which he must in
vest first before he can attain his degrees,
and after that before he can ''pay his way"
the loss Of wages, if so we may speak, for
the years devoted to study and waiting for
a competency, they would realize that COM
paratively few business men have so much
invested in their "stock in trade" as the
doctor They would then be less ready to
deny him a fair compensation for his la
bors.
THE LAST BILL PAID.
Not only are the incomes of physicians,
as rule smaller than those of men of other
professions, notably the legal and minis
terial, but even the sums which they receive
are grudgingly yielded. 1t is notorious
that the last bill to be paid is the doctors.
Tradesmen's claims are always preferred"
If it happens that the services Of an under
taker have been employed, he, too lis among
the first creditors to be paid. If anything
is left, and there is no prospect Of its being
needed for any other purpose, why, then
the doctors bill is considered. But it would
be violating old customs were it to be paid
in full. A complete settlement in nine
eases out of ten is only effected after he has
deducted large per cent. of what is due
him. Even the most honest of patients
seem to have little or no conjunction about
asking him for discounts, even when they
well know that the physician's bill rendered
is not only just, but reasonable. "The
doctor makes his moncy easily" says the
average patient, and full of that belief he
adjusts his sense of right and equity and
drives sharp bargain if he can.
1t is safe to say that but few physicians
in general practice manage to collect more
than half of their bills 1t is certainly not
pleasant to contemplate that large share
of our people are dishonest, and swindle
their physicians And yet such is actually
the case. 1t is doubtful if there is any
class of men i'll business who would be
content to receive such treatment. Why
in the name of all that is right and proper
should physicians be obliged to putup with
it? Probably they themselves are in a
measure accountable for it. Were they
more exacting, and, making the practice
of medicine trade, insisted upon the full
and immediate payment for their services
when rendered, their patients would in time
learn to be honest. Very few doctors
would care to take such a course if they
could, and yet it is an open question it all
concerned would not be better 10 the end
for it. We say that they cannot always be
so rigid, if they would. No physician can
act on such lines in the face of an unfor-
tunate whose sufferings he can relieve, or
whose life he can save, even if he knows
full well that at the nearest grog shop will
be worse than wasted the sum he ought to
have received, and which he has richly
earned. Patients have learned the princi-
pies which direct physicians, and the
promptness which sway them, and many
are not slow to take mean advantage.
MAKING A CHANGE.
Something after this fashion does he suf
fer from them Very likely, when a stran.
ger and first called, the illness he treats is
severe one, or it may be desperate emer.
eency. He is successful in his treatment
and for several months after is the recog-
nized attendant of that family. They think
much of him, and encourage neighbors and
friends to patronize him. After time his
bill comes in and is met with some excuse
which is readily accepted. As time goes
on and the debt remains unpaid, his collec
tor is more persistent At last another
attack of sickness occurs in the same fami
w, and, instead ofsending for the physician
to whom they are indebted, who did so vel
on former occasion, and in whose praise
they have been so loud, they employ apoth
er. The neighbors see the strange physi
clan calling, and naturally ask why the
change. Not one of the class of people We
are describing have manhood and woman
hood enough to prompt him to give the
true, honest reason for it. mol They
simply say DR.. So-and-so did not do as well
the last time we chad hin" as he did at
first, and SO we thought we would not call
him AGAIN. That, of course, has its inau.
ence, and the friends and neighbors who
have previously been well disposed toward
him whose experience we are illustrating,
are thereafter inclined to doubt his ability.
The consequence is, the skillfpl and
obliging physician, to whom is owed pot
only the money, for which he has patiently
waited, but wealth of gratitude for bis
devotion to the former sick one, loses not
only the amount of his bill, but also the
reputation which be has justly earned in
the neighborhood. One evil disposed per
son, without shadow of truth to sustain
bis assertions, can in a close community da
physician an injury, by exciting prejudice
against him, which he cannot overcome ia
a lifetime. Strange as it may seem, il il
yet true, that these patients of a certain
class, whom he treats most indulgently, arc
the easiest made his worst enemies.