I've stopped thinking of doctors as friends, and instead as salespeople preying on people in their most vulnerable state. That oath is just another ruse in the sales process.
I've stopped thinking of doctors as friends, and instead as salespeople preying on people in their most vulnerable state. That oath is just another ruse in the sales process.
Same, I basically consider a doctor an adversary until they give me reason to believe otherwise. Probably some of the ones who pass that filter are adversaries, still, and are making me pay for crap I shouldn't need to or directing me to providers who are more expensive to get kickbacks or whatever, they're just better at hiding it.
They are, as a profession, failing hard at upholding their oath. The insurance industry may be a uniquely useless part of providing medical care, but they do not deserve all the blame for the massive harm that's being done. Hospitals and doctors are a huge part of it, too.
[EDIT] I guess I think of them like mechanics now, actually, in that I figure any time I follow their advice and it causes me to give them money there's about an even chance I'm their mark, not their customer/patient.