Last week, my buddy, Suze, worried that she had strep throat. She was feverish and her throat has hurt for a week. Since she’s rarely sick, she did not have a regular doctor for sore throats and coughs. Her mom told her to go to the clinic at a CVS or Duane Reade. For some reason, there are none in New York City, while they are springing up all over the country. We talked for a while why might be the case. But we kept coming back to one point — we loved the idea of these walk-in clinics.
Neither of us have regular doctors. She has bargain health program that nobody takes. And I am just not that organized. Getting a check up is always on the bottom of my to do list. So, when Steve and I get sick. We go to the walk-in doctors office, HealthNet. My parents also use a Doc in the Box. It’s convenient.
As generally healthy people, I only go to the doctor for a strep test. I’m prone to it. Either I have the flu or strep and any nurse can tell me that. I really don’t have the need for a doctor. I love the idea of going to CVS for the test where I can pick up a magazine and mascara while I wait. Predictably, the AMA is having a fit about it.
Apt. 11d 
I’m going to vote against the clinics and for going back to the old Family Doctor system. Too often, people in dense urban areas with more specialists are relying on specialists to do their primary care. And they end up with my dad’s situation. A GP would have noticed that his urinary difficulty and back pain were sure signs of prostate cancer. His nephrologist, who was also his PCP, just assumed that these symptoms were due to his kidney problems. By the time an orthopedist (and don’t get me started on how long it takes to go from specialist to specialist) got a look at the spinal MRI, the tumor in my dad’s spine (from stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer) had paralyzed him from the waist down.
We need more physicians out there looking at the big picture, and fewer specialists with narrow perspectives.
I actually have two PCPs, one for women’s stuff and one for sore throats and anti-depressants.
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