A Buyer's Guide to a Medical Career: A Long Trip Down the Rabbit Hole

By Daniel A. Capen

Since author Daniel A. Capen attended medical school in the 1970s and ’80s, a lot has changed in American health care training and the practice of medicine. With A Buyer’s Guide to a Medical Career: A Long Trip Down the Rabbit Hole, Capen aims to inform those interested in a career in medicine of these changes. By being better prepared, new practitioners can better prevent stress and job burnout.

Once independent, providers then became substantially regulated and now are pinned by large insurance companies and practices controlled by private equity. Capen has witnessed growing outside controls and costs and shrinking reimbursement. By preparing future medical students and doctors with bluntly stated information drawn from forty years of practice, Capen provides insider guidance before readers embark on a medical career.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Outskirts Press
• Release date: Jun 9, 2023
• ISBN: 9781977265562

Daniel A. Capen

The author has a background in Spinal Surgery as both a teacher and author. Dr. Capen has lectured and performed surgeries globally and maintained a private practice in Metro LA since 1982. He has authored and co-authored journal articles textbook chapters and book. He recently relocated to South Florida after 45 years in California.  

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A Buyer’s Guide to a Medical Career

A Long Trip Down the Rabbit Hole

All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2023 Daniel A. Capen

v1.0

The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and do not represent the opinions or thoughts of the publisher. The author has represented and warranted full ownership and/or legal right to publish all the materials in this book.

This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Table of Contents

Foreword

1: The Initial Phase

2: The Eighties, the Wonderful Eighties, the Reagan Years

3: Decade of the ’90s

4: Y2K decade

5: 2010 Era or Blame, Crime and Struggle

6: Please Be Sure of Your Purchase

Foreword

In all its not the same as it was Harry Styles 2022. As It Was

Hi. I want to let you know I was always afraid to write a book. I was wondering if it should be a mystery type a la Tami Hoag, or a horror novel a la Steven King .I was kind of afraid no one would want to hear what I have to say, but I’m writing this so you can be informed. I am sure this is a combination if you consider the last 50 years of my career in the Medical space. If you are contemplating a career in Health Care you should read on.

Most writers have either a great fictional mind or have a story to tell, or have an axe to grind. In my case I have a story to tell about the last 50 years of American medicine. I also have a personal axe to grind. More on that later. Just keep an open mind while reading this. I call this a buyers guide because you are contemplating a huge investment.. Oh yes, to be sure you are going to pay your money and your time so pay attention to the choices available to you and how the changes from the past will drastically impact your career.

The main purpose of this work is to assist you to make an informed decision about a potential career in medicine. Now the career includes nursing physician assistant and nurse practitioner. I want you to understand that my career spanned 5 decades and it began in the ’70s, so what’s going on today is very remotely related to what was going on then. A whole lot of changes have occurred since that decade. Lots of dominoes tipped over to dictate American Medicine today .I’m going to try to tell this story so you can make your own conclusion about 1) the direction of American medicine and 2) your appetite for that sort of career and the time and cost of the education. Parents encouraging children to become a doctor meant a whole lot different to my generation than it means now believe me.

Hopefully my recollections and musings mean something, but not sure some of the things I experienced will ever occur again. Most historians agree that you won’t know where you are going without knowing where you have been. So here we go. The process is not necessarily easy or pleasant ,but goal oriented people can deal with it. Im just uncertain that the end result is the same. You are about to cross a bridge from youth to the real world. The crossing will involve passing up the seemingly inviting waters of the Fun River. The process is a sacrifice, but one I look upon as worthwhile.

To this day, it’s the same process as I encountered in the ’70s when I was getting into medical school and finishing medical school and trying to find a residency. It was highly competitive. It remains so today, and while a lot more was hands-on and think oriented back then, it is now more remote learning and algorithmic thinking. You will need to answer the question of whether 4 years college 4 years medical school and 3–7 years residency are truly necessary to read and follow flow charts of algorithms to treat people..Is the education really utilized to its maximum when rule number one is to avoid costs. Obviously no one questions the need to develop manual skills and three dimensional awareness for procedures, yet in many situations those skills will never be authorized.

From my era