Identity Question

In the July 6 issue, Dr. Richard Harding urges new psychiatrists to “resist systems of care that undermine the doctor-patient relationship and give incentives for withholding care” and then asks each one to choose between becoming “a business person or a professional.” Good business sense and professionalism are not mutually exclusive. In fact, if we doctors as a group had been paying better attention to business matters in our profession over the years, we most likely would not be faced today with the types of systems of care to which Dr. Harding refers.