[lit-ideas] Re: Brazilian Medicine
- From: "Andy Amago" <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2006 16:04:42 -0500
> [Original Message]
> From: Eric <eyost1132@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 4/1/2006 3:18:00 PM
> Subject: [lit-ideas] Brazilian Medicine
>
> >>Third world countries are known for their
> bribery for just about
> everything.
>
> No, I meant did you have a specific question about
> Brazilian medicine I could ask? If you do, I'll
> send it along.
>
It was a comment, not a question. The comment was on the bribery of the
third world. Not something one asks.
> Anecdotally, I was impressed when I went there. I
> visited some research institutes, the large
> University of Sao Paulo, and the institute where
> anti-hypertensive medicines were first developed
> from snake venom.
>
> Their surgeons and dentists are generally regarded
> as superior to US surgeons and dentists. Why? In
> Brazil they train surgeons and dentists to operate
> in the third year of med school. In the US,
> surgeons only start much later...in their
> residency. The Brazilians train hand-eye skills at
> an earlier age.
>
I don't know why that would make a big difference. After a few years of
practice any advantages should level out. It sounds like the Brazilians
put more emphasis on the practical, where we stress the abstract stuff
more. Here we're getting there in a sense through 'physician assistants'.
They're as good as the doctors often, and generate a lot of money at a low
cost.
> In my own case, I suffered a cut to my cornea
> while editing a manuscript. Turning a page over, I
> received a paper-cut to my eye. I went to a Park
> Avenue ophthalmologist and eye surgeon to treat
> the resulting fingerprint dystrophy. Their
> treatment didn't stop the problem of frequent pain
> and tearing eyes. When in Brazil, I went to an eye
> specialist who treated me. Haven't had problems since.
>
It could be that the Brazilian doctor knew something the American doctor
didn't, or it could be that the eye just needed that much more time to heal
and that's all it took. It seems the Americans should be streaming to
Brazil.
> Now as to why the doctors come here, it has to do
> with several things that make US medicine highly
> regarded: medical technology and the systems of
> medical guidelines.
>
>
'Medical guidelines' sounds like another way of saying the system is more
straightforward, less bribery. Or, maybe I should say more
straightforwardly corrupt. I offer in support of said statement the
following: after I hurt my knee a few years ago, I did physical therapy.
For two visits they billed the insurance company $1,046 ($663 for the
consultation; $383 for the session). The insurance company paid $32, I
paid $30 in copay. If I didn't have insurance, I would have been billed
$1046 for two visits. The place I treated with was an extension of a
community hospital, so maybe that was why the insurance payment was so low,
they might do a lot of business with them. I was shocked when I saw the
statement. There's something very wrong when a hospital pays $32 and an
individual pays $1046. Still, I didn't have to bribe anybody. I only did
two visits because all I wanted was to learn the exercises and then I did
them at home. The exercises they taught me returned my knee completely
back to normal.
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