Yesterday we were in need of a professional gas fitter to make a house call to fix a problem with a gas line in our home. It was a simple problem for him, requiring about 10 minutes. His fee was $156 plus tax for a basic house call. I contrast that with a basic house call that I make as a physician. The last time I looked, the fee was about $110. I am thankful that none of my five children have chosen family medicine as a career. They are all in technical trades or engineering. It is interesting that I am to conclude that the services of a gas fitter are about 50% more valuable to society than the services of a family physician based on the fees paid to these two respective professions.
—Robert H. Brown, MD, CCFP
North Saanich
Links
[1] https://bcmj.org/cover/june-2021
[2] https://bcmj.org/author/robert-h-brown-md-ccfp
[3] https://bcmj.org/node/8520
[4] https://bcmj.org/sites/default/files/BCMJ_Vol63_No5-letters_0.pdf
[5] https://bcmj.org/print/letters/value-family-physicians
[6] https://bcmj.org/printmail/letters/value-family-physicians
[7] http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://bcmj.org/print/8526
[8] https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Value of family physicians&url=https://bcmj.org/print/8526&via=BCMedicalJrnl&tw_p=tweetbutton
[9] https://bcmj.org/javascript%3A%3B
[10] https://bcmj.org/modal_forms/nojs/webform/176
[11] https://bcmj.org/%3Finline%3Dtrue%23citationpop