I just wanted to be a doctor: Medicine and its representation

doi:10.1136/bmj.333.7565.446-a

BMJ 2006;333:446 (26 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.333.7565.446-a

Letter

I just wanted to be a doctor

Medicine and its representation

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Hunt captures a key dynamic in modern medicine.¹At all levels we seem to have two jobs: firstly, to do the joband see patients, and secondly, to prove that we have done thisactivity, and to an appropriate standard.

Doing the job is actually the core reason for doctors to exist.It is the hardest part of medicine. Meeting and dealing wellwith people with all their pathology and their personal particularitiesis hard work. By comparison with this, going to meetings isfar easier.

To do our core job, doctors have to jump through multiple hoopsof audit, quality assurance, clinical governance, appraisal,and now revalidation. There is no evidence that these time consumingactivities do anything for patient care. There is no evidencethat they measure what matters, or reliably discriminate goodpractice from poor practice. Indeed I propose that in theircurrent form they . . . [Full text of this article]

Peter G Davies, general practitioner principal

Keighley Road Surgery, Illingworth, Halifax HX2 9LL npgdavies@blueyonder.co.uk