In the early 1970s, racial and gender discrimination was still prevalent. The easy camaraderie prevailing in the operating room evaporated at the completion of surgical procedures. There was an unspoken pecking order of seating arrangements at lunch among my fellow physicians. At the top were the white male 'primary producers' in prestigious surgical specialties. They were followed by the internists. Next came the general practitioners. Last on the list were the hospital-based physicians: the radiologists, pathologists and anaesthesiologists - especially non-white, female ones like me. Apart from colour, we were shunned because we did not bring in patients ourselves but, like vultures, lived off the patients generated by other doctors. We were also resented because being hospital-based and not having to rent office space or hire nursing staff, we had low overheads. Since a physician's number of admissions to the hospital and referral pattern determined the degree of attention and regard accorded by colleagues, it was safe for our peers to ignore us and target those in position to send over income-producing referrals. This attitude was mirrored from the board of directors all the way down to the orderlies. Adeline Yen Mah
About This Quote

The primary producers in the operating room were surgeons. Surgeons were in charge of performing surgeries. Internists, however, specialized in medicine that didn't involve surgery. General practitioners were the people who looked after medical patients who weren't patients of a surgeon.

Last on the list were the medical students and residents. They weren't doctors yet, but they were learning how to be doctors and it would be a while before they became real doctors. Next to medical students and residents were interns and residents, who were young physicians.

In medical school, interns were taught by experienced physicians. Residency was when interns trained to be real doctors by doing research and learning from other people's mistakes/experiences. The last group of people to become doctors was the non-medical staff, like radiologists, pathologists, etcetera.

They worked in hospitals and also helped with patient care by: taking care of patients who couldn't get to a surgeon's office; examining patients and telling the surgeon what needs to be done; operating on patients if they needed surgery; and saying goodbye to patients when they died so family members could come and take them home.

Source: Falling Leaves: The Memoir Of An Unwanted Chinese Daughter

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