Where are all the physicians?

I was scheduled to have an out patient procedure at 3:10 PM. I sat in the waiting room for almost an hour before being called back. In the procedure room I was asked to undress and lie down, covering myself with a paper sheet. After being prepped by the nurse I waited for another 40 minutes for the doctor to arrive. He immediately began a rapid, impersonal monologue about some of my test results, without one word of apology for being over 90 minutes late. I made it very clear to him on our first visit that I was a physician, but that was apparently lost on him because today I was Mr. Renzulli, and the recipient of a quick, basic spiel of why I might benefit from a surgical procedure (as a layman I would not have understood just what he was proposing). I made it clear to him I preferred a trial of medical therapy, and he agreed, but then left without prescribing the medication.

The man was a technician, and I was nothing but another procedure to him. There was absolutely nothing personal in the entire encounter. He remembered nothing about my first visit and never bothered to refer to a chart. He did not give me the courtesy of addressing me as a colleague, and actually spoke down to me. Even worse, without a medical background I would not have understood my condition or my options.

Obviously I am so very out of date! The opportunity to care for a patient is a privilege!
Medicine is a noble calling that is being transformed into an impersonal, technical, market driven occupation, devoid of any nobility.