I saw an American doctor at VA awhile back....almost always have doctors from other countries otherwise. And you know the reason for the foreign doctors .... ?

The reason they hire these ppl is that VA is a federal operation and the doctors do not have to have a U.S. medical license. They do not have to be certified by a state medical association, etc.

They work cheap.

You get either interns or brand new doctors or foreigners. I have no real objection to the foreigner, except it is nice to be able to understand our doctor's instructions and have confidence that they, too, understand what you are saying.

So, makes me wonder what the middle aged American doc was doing there. When I asked, there was some mumbo jumbo about having a practice in a nearby town, turning it over to someone else, and so on. I have to say that I didn't even understand what he was telling me ... much like the way I feel when some of the foreign docs give me medical instructions.

LOL ... one annual physical I went to turned out to be a blood test and an interview. I sat with the doc and chatted for about 10 min and he pronounced me a-ok. He didn't even have the blood work up at that point.

The stories could go on and on ... and mine are not even among the most outrageous stories.

Yesterday, someone told me of their step dad who went to VA for PTSD. They put him in a group of 70 homeless ppl .... 70! ... and he didn't go back after the first round. Young, intern like person running the discussion.

Anyway. You got the point. I won't be going there for counseling unless it is to help others. And even then, I'd probably get in trouble if I didn't turn off my BS detector.

tnx for your thoughts on all of this