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> military doctors tend to be doctors that happen to wear a uniform. They already have the skills actually needed by the service Sure, most of them join either

> military doctors tend to be doctors that happen to wear a uniform. They already have the skills actually needed by the service Sure, most of them join either during med school or during residency, with Uncle Sam picking up the financial obligations. Funny story - good friend was an army doc and we managed to both get time off at the same time/location. Hanging out along the ocean and come across a little kid that got hurt. So he goes into doctor mode and talks soothingly to the kid, who is very apprehensive. He says “I know you’re not so sure I’m a doctor. It’s because I haven’t asked your parents for their insurance info yet” and smiles at the mom and dad. Later on he says that never dealing with insurance is one of the perks of being a doctor in the military.

jakebasile 1y ago
> Later on he says that never dealing with insurance is one of the perks of being a doctor in the military. Despite not being anything close to an MD, a social media app I use has determined that I am. I get recruiting ads from the Navy that says this, in effect: "Don't worry about malpractice or insurance, just your patient". It's a pretty good sales pitch, I imagine.
- neilv 1y ago
  > "Don't worry about malpractice or insurance, just your patient". It's a pretty good sales pitch, I imagine. If only the rest of government aspired to that. :)
  - hnlmorg 1y ago
    They kind of do, only their sales pitch is > don’t worry about your constituents nor breaking the law, just your own self interest. It really is about time politicians were locked up for their equivalent of malpractices.
    - theoreticalmal 1y ago
      And here I am thinking the threat of malpractice, and malpractice insurance costs, are part of the reason healthcare is so expensive in the USA
      - ryandrake 1y ago
        What happens in other countries when the doctor amputates the wrong leg or operates on the wrong patient? Does the government pay damages arising from malpractice?
        halper 1y ago
        In short: in some, yes. In my country, one's private insurance company may pay damages for injuries caused by medical malpractice. This may be included in the home insurance or some health/injury/accident insurance. Otherwise and in addition, you are covered by the provider's malpractice insurance. Private medical providers must have malpractice insurance. There is also a national scheme, regulated by law, that covers all public providers, which in practice would be all the emergency departments etc.
      - lotsofpulp 1y ago
        They are. Those $10M+ lawsuit verdicts get paid one way or another, and everyone is doing unnecessary cover your ass work to be able to not be in the line of fire for that lawsuit.
      - isleyaardvark 1y ago
        It's a small fraction: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3048809/#:~:text=Overall%20annual%20medical%20liability%20system,of%20total%20health%20care%20spending. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3048809/#:~:text=Ov... The bigger reason is profit-minded middlemen taking advantage of inelastic demand to jack up prices, a problem that does not exist in other countries.
      - bee_rider 1y ago
        It actually seems like an interesting bit of phrasing. I think the ad, and you, are talking about malpractice insurance and other documentation to prove that you didn’t do malpractice. The comment you replied to is actually taking about the underlying act of malpractice. The first line of defenses against actual malpractice is that professionals are supposed to have some self-respect and standards. But of course our society is structured against professionalism. The insurance company or hospital admin doesn’t care if you are a real professional who does the right things when nobody is looking, that’s too hard quantify. The ad is offering the opportunity to be a professional.
    - DiggyJohnson 1y ago
      I think that would lead to even less civilized relationships between politicians and parties. Politicians throwing their rivals into courts and prison is not usually an aspect of a healthy civil society.
      - krapp 1y ago
        Politicians being above the law is not an aspect of a healthy civil society. Throwing politicians into courts and prison after due legal process for crimes they actually commit is an aspect of a healthy civil society. If your judicial system is so corrupt that every accusation against a politician is a ruse manufactured by their enemies and no fair trial is possible, then you don't have a healthy civil society either way.
      - hnlmorg 1y ago
        The status quo is clearly demonstrating that accountability is desperately needed.
  - CoastalCoder 1y ago
    In my corner of the DoD, we absolutely aspire to work like that. It's beyond frustrating to have politicians use us as rhetorical punching bags. The stereotypes they espouse about civil servants are largely inaccurate. I say this from having worked decades inside the DoD an in non-defense private sector.
    - DiggyJohnson 1y ago
      Amen, similar experience here. There are parts of the US federal government that aspire to and excel in the way you have described. Of course the opposite is true too. But it bothers me that much of the discourse on both sides tend to ignore the high functioning projects and sectors. It’s a cool professional experience to take part in.
    - neilv 1y ago
      Agreed. I was unclear, but I meant to refer to government policies around healthcare (especially insurance companies), not about civil servants.
- more_corn 1y ago
  Have you considered med school? Maybe the advertising platform knows something about you that you’re not aware of yourself.

jakebasile 1y ago

> Later on he says that never dealing with insurance is one of the perks of being a doctor in the military. Despite not being anything close to an MD, a social media app I use has determined that I am. I get recruiting ads from the Navy that says this, in effect: "Don't worry about malpractice or insurance, just your patient". It's a pretty good sales pitch, I imagine.

neilv 1y ago
> "Don't worry about malpractice or insurance, just your patient". It's a pretty good sales pitch, I imagine. If only the rest of government aspired to that. :)
- hnlmorg 1y ago
  They kind of do, only their sales pitch is > don’t worry about your constituents nor breaking the law, just your own self interest. It really is about time politicians were locked up for their equivalent of malpractices.
  - theoreticalmal 1y ago
    And here I am thinking the threat of malpractice, and malpractice insurance costs, are part of the reason healthcare is so expensive in the USA
    - ryandrake 1y ago
      What happens in other countries when the doctor amputates the wrong leg or operates on the wrong patient? Does the government pay damages arising from malpractice?
      - halper 1y ago
        In short: in some, yes. In my country, one's private insurance company may pay damages for injuries caused by medical malpractice. This may be included in the home insurance or some health/injury/accident insurance. Otherwise and in addition, you are covered by the provider's malpractice insurance. Private medical providers must have malpractice insurance. There is also a national scheme, regulated by law, that covers all public providers, which in practice would be all the emergency departments etc.
    - lotsofpulp 1y ago
      They are. Those $10M+ lawsuit verdicts get paid one way or another, and everyone is doing unnecessary cover your ass work to be able to not be in the line of fire for that lawsuit.
    - isleyaardvark 1y ago
      It's a small fraction: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3048809/#:~:text=Overall%20annual%20medical%20liability%20system,of%20total%20health%20care%20spending. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3048809/#:~:text=Ov... The bigger reason is profit-minded middlemen taking advantage of inelastic demand to jack up prices, a problem that does not exist in other countries.
    - bee_rider 1y ago
      It actually seems like an interesting bit of phrasing. I think the ad, and you, are talking about malpractice insurance and other documentation to prove that you didn’t do malpractice. The comment you replied to is actually taking about the underlying act of malpractice. The first line of defenses against actual malpractice is that professionals are supposed to have some self-respect and standards. But of course our society is structured against professionalism. The insurance company or hospital admin doesn’t care if you are a real professional who does the right things when nobody is looking, that’s too hard quantify. The ad is offering the opportunity to be a professional.
  - DiggyJohnson 1y ago
    I think that would lead to even less civilized relationships between politicians and parties. Politicians throwing their rivals into courts and prison is not usually an aspect of a healthy civil society.
    - krapp 1y ago
      Politicians being above the law is not an aspect of a healthy civil society. Throwing politicians into courts and prison after due legal process for crimes they actually commit is an aspect of a healthy civil society. If your judicial system is so corrupt that every accusation against a politician is a ruse manufactured by their enemies and no fair trial is possible, then you don't have a healthy civil society either way.
    - hnlmorg 1y ago
      The status quo is clearly demonstrating that accountability is desperately needed.
- CoastalCoder 1y ago
  In my corner of the DoD, we absolutely aspire to work like that. It's beyond frustrating to have politicians use us as rhetorical punching bags. The stereotypes they espouse about civil servants are largely inaccurate. I say this from having worked decades inside the DoD an in non-defense private sector.
  - DiggyJohnson 1y ago
    Amen, similar experience here. There are parts of the US federal government that aspire to and excel in the way you have described. Of course the opposite is true too. But it bothers me that much of the discourse on both sides tend to ignore the high functioning projects and sectors. It’s a cool professional experience to take part in.
  - neilv 1y ago
    Agreed. I was unclear, but I meant to refer to government policies around healthcare (especially insurance companies), not about civil servants.
more_corn 1y ago
Have you considered med school? Maybe the advertising platform knows something about you that you’re not aware of yourself.