snip

>>The show is often made fun of as 'not real' and 'no such thing exists' but there are training hospitals that do exactly what his team does. Most of the work is in labs, radiology, pathology, and screening though.
>>
>>As to reality, you may find this article interesting:
>>
>>A Real Dr House:
>>http://discovermagazine.com/2007/medical-mysteries/the-real-dr-house
>>The person who inspired the series: Dr. Lisa Sanders The Diagnosis Column in the New York Times Magazine
>>Some similar doctors: Thomas Bolte, MD Manhattan
>>
>>So, no real Dr House in the U.S. :) It's just entertainment :o)
>
>I've read the whole article. Very interesting and intriguing. The way this doctor works is exactly how I think it should be done by specialists. This is NOT the regular practice in the Netherlands and I guess our insurance system may be one cause here. It's all protocol driven. And time management indeed. This part of the article is remarkable:
>
>There was a time in this country,” he says, “when doctors made house calls and when they were done, they sat down to dinner with the family. That’s how they got to know you. The next time someone in your family took sick, the doctor knew their context. He knew what their home life was like, knew what they did for a living, and so on. Today, you’re lucky if your doctor sees you for 12 minutes. How can you possibly find out all you need to know about a patient in 12 minutes?”

Re health care in other countries, here is an opinion piece I thought hit the nail on the head.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/17/opinion/17krugman.html?_r=1&scp=7&sq=paul%20krugman&st=cse