Cal's Career Center Health Team

Michael Moore's Sicko Point/Counterpoint

Michael Moore's latest film documents the atrocities purportedly committed by our managed health care system and contrasts America's privatized health care models against those of other countries, where health care is socialized.  Needless to say, this film has been making waves in the health community and has left people alternately scratching their heads and pointing their fingers. 

But what is the counter-argument?  Can America's health care system really answer for this list of misdeeds?

You decide.  See the movie and do your research, starting with the brief summaries here.  Remember, pre-med applicants and future health care professionals; schools have a tendency to ask interview questions around hot-button issues such as these, so be prepared!

Michael Moore/Filmmaker-Activist says...

This is a film synopsis taken from Michael Moore's Website: 

Opening with profiles of several ordinary Americans whose lives have been disrupted, shattered, and—in some cases—ended by health care catastrophe, the film makes clear that the crisis doesn't only affect the 47 million uninsured citizens—millions of others who dutifully pay their premiums often get strangled by bureaucratic red tape as well. After detailing just how the system got into such a mess (the short answer: profits and Nixon), we are whisked around the world, visiting countries including Canada, Great Britain and France, where all citizens receive free medical benefits. Finally, Moore gathers a group of 9/11 heroes – rescue workers now suffering from debilitating illnesses who have been denied medical attention in the US. He takes them to a most unexpected place, and in addition to finally receiving care, they also engage in some unexpected diplomacy.

Kurt Loder, Journalist/MTV icon:

What's the problem with government health systems? Moore's movie doesn't ask that question, although it does unintentionally provide an answer. When governments attempt to regulate the balance between a limited supply of health care and an unlimited demand for it they're inevitably forced to ration treatment. This is certainly the situation in Britain. Writing in the Chicago Tribune this week, Helen Evans, a 20-year veteran of the country's National Health Service and now the director of a London-based group called Nurses for Reform, said that nearly 1 million Britons are currently on waiting lists for medical care — and another 200,000 are waiting to get on waiting lists. Evans also says the NHS cancels about 100,000 operations each year because of shortages of various sorts. Last March, the BBC reported on the results of a Healthcare Commission poll of 128,000 NHS workers: two thirds of them said they "would not be happy" to be patients in their own hospitals. James Christopher, the film critic of the Times of London, thinks he knows why. After marveling at Moore's rosy view of the British health care system in "Sicko," Christopher wrote, "What he hasn't done is lie in a corridor all night at the Royal Free [Hospital] watching his severed toe disintegrate in a plastic cup of melted ice. I have." Last month, the Associated Press reported that Gordon Brown — just installed this week as Britain's new prime minister — had promised to inaugurate "sweeping domestic reforms" to, among other things, "improve health care."

Googling "Sicko" will yield many more results, (some from far more reliable sources than others. ) Read up, pre-health folks, and be prepared to formulate a balanced, intelligent perspective on this hotly debated topic.  Feel free to post your comments as well.      

Why Choose Nursing?

Yes, admit it. During your bleaker moments (studying for chemistry mid-terms, for example) you wonder why you ever thought of health professional school at all.  Consider, for example, that if you are lucky enough to be granted admission to the school of your choice, your painstaking efforts shall be rewarded with four more grueling years of study---if you are pre-med, make that seven, if you count those three minimum nose-to-the-grindstone years as an intern/resident.  That's right, becoming a healthcare service professional is hardly a glamorous affair, though most constituents consider it uniquely rewarding. 

Especially those clever nurses.

What makes nursing different?  After all, the nursing school admissions process is so competitive that it isn't unlike medical school.  Berkeley doesn't even offer a nursing degree.  And what would your parents and friends think if you shed your projected white coat for a wedge cap?  Well, my friend, it is time to dust off your definition of the nursing career.  Here are the top 4 reasons why you should consider entering this exciting, evolving field: 

1.  Depth of Patient Care. 

If you find that you are attracted to health care because you want to "treat the whole person" or "connect" with patients, then nursing is the career for you; the bulk of what nurses do is educate, treat, and bond with their patients.  Granted, there are some patients you'd rather not get to know so inimately.  But for the most part, nurses enjoy the level of patient-practitioner connection that their job allows.   

2.  Salary.

Although nursing salaries vary, most people are surprised to learn how much nurses are making, especially in the Bay Area.  According to Salary.com, the median base salary range for a registered nurse in San Francisco is around $72,000 a year.  After 4-5 years, many nurses are earning a six-figure salary.  Not bad for somebody with just a bachelor's degree.  If you become a Nurse Practitioner, in SF you can expect a base salary of around $99,000.

3.   Flexibility.

How would you like to work 3 days a week and still earn a six-figure salary?  The fact is, many nurses enjoy incredible flexibility in their work schedules that other health practitioners can only dream of.  RNs often have the option to work a 12-hour day three days a week, and enjoy four days off.  If you are forced to work on a holiday, then your employer often pays time and a half for your trouble.  If work/life balance is important to you,  bear in mind that few careers allow this kind of job flexibility-to-earnings ratio.  Even if you decide to become a Nurse Practitioner, you often will never work beyond 9-5.   

4.  Demand.

Employers practically roll out the red carpet for nurses.  Sign-on bonuses ranging anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 are common.  When the boomers retire, expect that desperate employers will be dreaming up even tastier goodies to seduce lucky nursing graduates.  If you have always itched to travel around the U.S., there are many travel nursing programs which have sprung up to address the increasing shortages in various major cities.  How would you like your rent and moving expenses covered while you live in a high-rise in Chicago?  Craving some time on the beach?  Try a 3-month travel nursing assignment in Miami.

If you want to pursue work that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, pays well, makes you feel needed, challenges your intellect and allows you to enjoy...well...other things besides work, then consider nursing.  For more information, check out Discover Nursing.