32 years in medicine
Posted by Bill Molesworth
Joyce Campbell introduced Dr. Herman Jileson, a co-worker on previous physician recruitment committees and a doctor with over 30 years of experience.
Dr. Jileson said he'd been asked to introduce himself, discuss the changes in medicine over the years and explore the problems facing doctors today - all in 15 minutes.
He is the eldest of 11 children of Dutch immigrant parents. He attended Trent in Chemistry, then went to Queens on a Rotating Intern Program. On July 8, 1974, at 1:00 pm he entered into practice in Victoria Harbour. The Lion's Club had opened a new building and were prepared to give him a break on the rent and some office assistance. He had checked out several towns, but he liked the area and there hadn't been a doctor there since the previous one died in 1965. He planned to stay two years.
He remembered the old hospital - the emergency room was in the basement and the elevator was slow. On his first visit he saw a doctor smoking beside a patient. The cigarette was put down on a table edge so sutures could be sewn - no washing and the cigarette burned down. The mark was still there when the building closed.
The nurses all wore white and the cap of their school - they did everything from janitorial to beds to actual nursing. There were 180 beds. There are 71 at HDH which is serving a much larger population.
Stays are much shorter - you're sent home to heal. A gall bladder used to take two days to diagnose, 10 days of recuperation in the hospital and 6 weeks at home. With ultrasound, you're out in 2 days and need maybe a week.
In 1974 every doctor did everything - they operated, looked after their own patients, they took part on committees for no pay.
Diseases have changed. The rates of cardiac disease and hypertension are dropping, due to the drop in smoking, mostly. On the other hand, antibiotics used to fix anything, now they sometimes don't work, and there are new diseases like AIDS.
Fees haven't changed as much as costs. It used to be $6.30 for an office visit. Now it's $20.00. Malpractice insurance has gone from $100.00 to a minimum of $4,000.00 and as much as $90,000.00 for high risk surgeons.
The profession is about 50% female now, and about half of practitioners have postgraduate degrees. The proportion of GP's has dropped from about 50% to about 25%, and those doctors are getting older and their numbers are dwindling. Recruitment is having a hard time keeping up with attrition, not to mention bringing the numbers up to where they should be.
Attracting doctors has always been a problem. Waubeshene once gave a doctor a house, a horse and a stipend. The same principals still obtain.
Rob offered the thanks of the Club to Dr. Jileson and all the doctors working on the community's behalf.
He is the eldest of 11 children of Dutch immigrant parents. He attended Trent in Chemistry, then went to Queens on a Rotating Intern Program. On July 8, 1974, at 1:00 pm he entered into practice in Victoria Harbour. The Lion's Club had opened a new building and were prepared to give him a break on the rent and some office assistance. He had checked out several towns, but he liked the area and there hadn't been a doctor there since the previous one died in 1965. He planned to stay two years.
He remembered the old hospital - the emergency room was in the basement and the elevator was slow. On his first visit he saw a doctor smoking beside a patient. The cigarette was put down on a table edge so sutures could be sewn - no washing and the cigarette burned down. The mark was still there when the building closed.
The nurses all wore white and the cap of their school - they did everything from janitorial to beds to actual nursing. There were 180 beds. There are 71 at HDH which is serving a much larger population.
Stays are much shorter - you're sent home to heal. A gall bladder used to take two days to diagnose, 10 days of recuperation in the hospital and 6 weeks at home. With ultrasound, you're out in 2 days and need maybe a week.
In 1974 every doctor did everything - they operated, looked after their own patients, they took part on committees for no pay.
Diseases have changed. The rates of cardiac disease and hypertension are dropping, due to the drop in smoking, mostly. On the other hand, antibiotics used to fix anything, now they sometimes don't work, and there are new diseases like AIDS.
Fees haven't changed as much as costs. It used to be $6.30 for an office visit. Now it's $20.00. Malpractice insurance has gone from $100.00 to a minimum of $4,000.00 and as much as $90,000.00 for high risk surgeons.
The profession is about 50% female now, and about half of practitioners have postgraduate degrees. The proportion of GP's has dropped from about 50% to about 25%, and those doctors are getting older and their numbers are dwindling. Recruitment is having a hard time keeping up with attrition, not to mention bringing the numbers up to where they should be.
Attracting doctors has always been a problem. Waubeshene once gave a doctor a house, a horse and a stipend. The same principals still obtain.
Rob offered the thanks of the Club to Dr. Jileson and all the doctors working on the community's behalf.