The Otter and The Cat

Welcome to my blog! I am an MD with a solo practice in the south. I have been employed by the government, academia, and HMO's in the past and have broken to one level of freedom by having my own practice. However, other challenges arise on a daily basis in this pursuit. This blog will attempt to chronicle them, and also provide a window into the harried, cumbersome, Kafka-esque level of regulation and government intrusion in my day to day life. I will also delve into matters personal, frivolous, and economic. I am a human being, too. "Doctor" is a faceless, anonymous, automaton-like term for who we are and what we do. We received a doctor in medicine degree after a painful, lengthy, expensive (more on that later) process. There needs to be a voice documenting what it's REALLY like "in the trenches".

I witnessed an act in nature along a river that I can't get out of my head. Standing on the riverbank one evening, I watched a river otter swimming, diving, and splashing about,  in what looked like fun water-play. After a few minutes of losing sight of the otter, he emerged onto the rocky banks with a fat fish in its mouth. He perched on the side of the bank, proceeding to enjoy his catch, blissfully unaware of my presence. Then he moved a few feet to the right with his fish. Then he jumped into the water again with his fish and came up a few feet farther down the riverbank. I peered more closely and I spied a stray cat chasing and harassing the otter, jealous of the otter's hard-fought catch. The cat wouldn't leave him alone and it kept pacing to and fro, jumping and hissing. Finally the otter got sick of this and dove into the river with the fish in its mouth. He swam upstream for about 150 yards to the other side of the river, where he emerged looking weak and exhausted, and after crawling a few feet up the other bank, he was able at last to eat his fish in peace. The cat wasn't able to get at him, and it eventually crawled back into the rocky crevices.

I know how that otter felt. I know how it feels to swim upstream, dive, work, and then work some more, all the while having the "cat" chase you down for your "fish". I know what it feels like to spend thousands of dollars in compliance manuals, ICD-9 books, software, CME, applying for more and more unique ID numbers, etc. and have it all for naught.