Dr. Niran Al-Agba

Is the Patient-Doctor Relationship Still Alive? Yes.

It seems perverse to deliver healthcare services at a place called the Minute Clinic. The kind of physician-patient relationship that can be cultivated in a minute is not one to write home about. While CVS and Walgreens see geriatric primary care as yet another untapped gold mine, for me, the relationship memorialized in Norman Rockwell’s “Physician” resonates as much today as it did 90 years ago. Seamless ecosystems are no match for a “willingness to place professional expertise at the feet of childhood magic.”

Niran Al-Agba2020-05-15T00:52:26+00:00December 28, 2019|Categories: Patient, Physician|Tags: CVS, Minute Clinic, Norman Rockwell, Patient Physician Relationship, Physician, Physician Autonomy, Retail Clinics|

The Death of Specialization: Predictions by George Orwell

A physician should be called a “physician.” A nurse practitioner should be identified as “nurse practitioner.” Please call a physician assistant, “physician assistant.” These are accurate titles, reflective of their specialized education, training, and expertise. They are all venerated professions which share a mutual goal of improving patient’s lives, yet the vocations are fundamentally different.

Niran Al-Agba2020-05-26T02:36:48+00:00March 19, 2019|Categories: Equality, Physician|Tags: George Orwell, Physician, Provider|

If You Call Me a “Provider”, I Will Assume You are a Nazi

“Provider” was first utilized by The Third Reich, who embraced this moniker to degrade Jewish physicians as medical professionals. The historic root and use of the word “provider” deserves our attention and reflection because if we forget the tragic mistakes of history, we may be doomed to repeat them. While the more recent movement to disrespect the education and training of physicians was the brainchild of the federal government and corporatized medicine, this disdain for medical expertise has occurred before–to Jewish physicians living in Germany in 1937, before World War II.

Niran Al-Agba2020-05-26T02:35:25+00:00February 20, 2019|Categories: Equality, Physician|Tags: Physician, Provider|