SAGES Private Practice Committee

Abstract

One of my happiest places in my work environment is deep in the small bowel, swimming amongst the villi, whilst doing a double balloon enteroscopy. It’s one of the few times that one can dissociate from all the noise around you. Phone calls, reports, letters of motivation, prescriptions and billing must all wait. These responsibilities, however, cannot be ignored forever, and once the incredible landscape of the small bowel is left behind, one must unfortunately attend to these pressing matters. For me, this is a metaphor for how I would ideally like to practise: see my patients, do the investigations and sort out the problem, essentially just do the job that I have trained for. Unfortunately, this idyll does not match the uncomfortable challenges of practising private medicine. Like many of you, I am sure, I have come to realise that the mounting non-clinical challenges cannot be ignored if we are to continue practising in our amazing field.