Certificates of added qualifications

In 30 years of experience in our profession, I sense there has never been a time that my colleagues have expressed so much discontent. The source of the malady is generally believed to be the obfuscation of the ability to practice according to one’s own conscience, without excessive interference from external agencies. We perceive unnecessary control by others masked as a need for “accountability.” Clinical decisions, and thus expressions of the “art” of our profession, are being categorized, systemized, constricted, and otherwise distorted. We, as physicians, are enjoying less and less respect from our patients, and so we are losing our self-respect.