Danielle Ofri, M.D., in her essay “Just a regular doctor,” writes:

“To me, primary care and specialty care are equally demanding. They perhaps represent different types of intellectual challenges, but there’s no reason for one to be thought of as more worthy of respect (or pay).

“Primary care doctors, the generalists, won’t be likely to achieve parity in pay or respect until the economics of American medicine changes drastically to reflect more realistically the needs of our patients. Right now, the system values procedures far more than talking to the patient, and so generalists — who do far fewer procedures — continue to rank at the bottom.

“But generalists can take heart in the fact that they are what people usually have in mind when they say that they need a doctor. So now when people ask what my specialty is, I say that I’m just a regular doctor. Though I try to remember to leave out the ‘just.”’

To read her entire essay, please hit this link.