What You Can Learn from MIT Neurosurgeon Who Quit (Dr. Goobie Reaction)
Summary
TLDRDr. Gooby, an MIT-trained neurosurgeon, shares his profound disillusionment with the medical system in a 45-minute video. He candidly discusses the limitations of spinal surgeries in addressing the root causes of pain, and the financial incentives driving the healthcare industry. His decision to leave a lucrative career to pursue a more meaningful approach to healing challenges the status quo and raises important questions about the ethics and efficacy of common medical practices.
Takeaways
- 🎓 A neurosurgeon with MIT training quit his job due to dissatisfaction with the medical system's approach to patient care.
- 🌳 Dr. Gooby chose to share his insights in a 45-minute video, filmed in a mosquito-infested wilderness, to convey profound wisdom about the medical industry.
- 🔍 He expressed concern about the medical system's focus on surgeries and pills rather than addressing the root causes of health issues, particularly with back surgeries.
- 🏥 The healthcare industry's economic model is criticized for prioritizing revenue from procedures over effective healing methods that may not generate income.
- 💡 Dr. Gooby highlighted the discrepancy between his training to help people and the reality that many surgeries only provide temporary relief without fixing the underlying problems.
- 🤔 The script raises questions about the ethics of a system that may perpetuate surgeries that don't necessarily improve patient outcomes, due to financial incentives.
- 💰 It points out the issue with insurance companies needing to increase expenditures to justify raising premiums and thus increase profits.
- 😔 Dr. Gooby's personal struggle with his role in a system that he felt was not truly focused on healing but rather on generating profit from surgeries and medications.
- 🚫 The video transcript suggests that there is a lack of transparency and honesty in reporting the success rates of surgeries, which can mislead patients about their potential outcomes.
- 🌟 Dr. Gooby is commended for his bravery and honesty in stepping away from a lucrative career to speak out against a system he believes is flawed.
- 📚 The speaker encourages viewers to seek out more information about the history of orthopedic surgery and the evidence behind different procedures to make informed decisions about their health.
Q & A
What was the main reason Dr. Gooby quit his job as a neurosurgeon?
-Dr. Gooby quit his job because he felt that the medical system was not focused on healing but on making money from surgeries and pills, and he was unhappy with the fact that the surgeries he performed were not addressing the root causes of patients' conditions.
What does Dr. Gooby specialize in as a neurosurgeon?
-Dr. Gooby specialized in spine surgery, which is a common procedure in neurosurgery to fix worn-out necks and backs.
Why did Dr. Gooby feel unhappy in his job despite having a high-paying and respected position?
-Dr. Gooby felt unhappy because he realized that the surgeries he was performing were not always helping patients and were not addressing the root causes of their pain, which went against his understanding of what it means to be a good doctor.
What is minimally invasive spine surgery, and how does it relate to Dr. Gooby's work?
-Minimally invasive spine surgery is a technique that uses small incisions and advanced navigation systems to perform spine surgeries with less damage to the surrounding tissues. Dr. Gooby learned and practiced these techniques, but later questioned their effectiveness in truly helping patients.
What was the oath Dr. Gooby took in medical school, and how did it influence his perspective on his job?
-Dr. Gooby took an oath in medical school to relieve suffering, which influenced his perspective on his job by making him question whether the surgeries he was performing were truly relieving patients' suffering or just providing a short-term solution.
How does the medical system's focus on revenue affect the types of treatments offered to patients?
-The medical system's focus on revenue often leads to the promotion of expensive procedures like surgeries, which generate more income for hospitals and doctors, even if these procedures do not necessarily provide the best long-term outcomes for patients.
What is the issue with the current system when a doctor finds a non-surgical, cost-effective solution for a patient's condition?
-If a doctor finds a non-surgical, cost-effective solution, it could threaten the hospital's revenue stream, as they would not be able to charge for expensive procedures, potentially leading to financial trouble for the hospital and the doctor.
Why are insurance companies also invested in the continuation of expensive medical procedures?
-Insurance companies are invested in expensive medical procedures because they need to increase their expenditures to justify raising premiums and thus increase their profits, while maintaining the percentage of revenue they are allowed to keep as profit by law.
What does Dr. Gooby suggest about the success rates of surgeries like spinal surgery?
-Dr. Gooby suggests that the success rates of surgeries like spinal surgery are not as high as they may seem, and that there is often an effort to conceal the true success rates or redefine what success means, rather than focusing on the actual improvement in patients' conditions.
What is the moral dilemma Dr. Gooby faced in his practice, and how did he resolve it?
-Dr. Gooby faced a moral dilemma of continuing to perform surgeries that were not always effective in healing patients versus quitting a well-paying job. He resolved it by choosing to quit his job, prioritizing the true healing of patients over financial gain.
What is the call to action for viewers considering joint surgeries or interested in learning more about orthopedic surgery?
-The call to action for viewers is to read an article provided in the description box, which discusses the history of orthopedic surgery, evidence regarding its effectiveness, and the perverse incentives within the medical system that may influence treatment choices.
Outlines
🎓 A Neurosurgeon's Dilemma: The Medical System's Reality
Dr. Gooby, an MIT-trained neurosurgeon, shares his profound dissatisfaction with the medical system in a 45-minute video. He explains his unhappiness stemmed not from personal issues but from the system's inherent flaws. Despite being well-paid and respected, he felt a disconnect because the surgeries he performed, while sometimes alleviating pain temporarily, did not address the root causes of back and neck pain. His training emphasized relieving suffering, but he found that the reality of his job often fell short of this ideal. This paragraph highlights the conflict between a doctor's oath to help and the limitations of the medical system in providing long-term solutions.
🏥 The Financial Incentives Behind Medical Procedures
This paragraph delves into the economic motivations driving the medical industry, particularly focusing on surgeries like spinal operations. It discusses how hospitals rely on revenue from expensive procedures to stay afloat, which can lead to a focus on profit rather than healing. The narrative suggests that the system is not designed to promote long-term health solutions that patients can manage independently, as these would threaten the financial model of healthcare institutions. The speaker also touches on the insurance industry's role in perpetuating this cycle by requiring increased expenditures to justify higher premiums and profits.
🚑 The Ethical Struggle of a Surgeon: Prioritizing Healing Over Profit
In this paragraph, the focus shifts to the ethical struggle faced by Dr. Gooby as he grapples with the reality of his profession. He found himself questioning the true success rates of surgeries and the honesty with which he and his peers assessed their outcomes. The narrative emphasizes the importance of not being blinded by sunk costs or financial incentives and highlights Dr. Gooby's decision to prioritize his moral compass over the lucrative but ethically challenging path of continuing to perform surgeries with uncertain benefits. The speaker encourages viewers to consider the systemic issues at play when contemplating joint surgeries and to seek out more information on the history and evidence behind such procedures.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Neurosurgeon
💡Medical System
💡Spine Surgery
💡Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery
💡Root Cause
💡Economic Growth
💡Insurance Companies
💡Success Rates
💡Moral Character
💡Perverse Incentives
💡Healing
Highlights
A former MIT trained neurosurgeon, Dr. Gooby, released a video explaining his decision to quit his job, which was not due to office drama but the structure of the medical system.
Dr. Gooby's dissatisfaction stemmed from the realization that his surgeries were not addressing the root causes of patients' conditions, despite being well-paid and respected.
The video discusses the limitations of minimally invasive spine surgery and its inability to fix the underlying issues causing back pain.
Dr. Gooby's training emphasized relieving suffering, but he found that the surgeries he performed often did not achieve this goal.
The medical system is criticized for prioritizing revenue from surgeries and pills over actual healing.
Hospitals and insurance companies are implicated in a system that encourages expensive procedures for financial gain rather than patient benefit.
Dr. Gooby highlights the ethical dilemma of performing surgeries that may not improve patient outcomes, but are financially beneficial for the medical industry.
The video challenges the common perception that well-paid surgeons are content with their work and life, revealing personal unhappiness and moral conflict.
Dr. Gooby's honesty about the mixed success rates of surgeries and the emotional toll it took on him is a call for a reevaluation of medical practices.
The transcript underscores the importance of considering non-surgical alternatives for treating back and joint pain, questioning the overreliance on invasive procedures.
Dr. Gooby's experience suggests that the medical industry's focus on revenue generation can lead to patient dissatisfaction and unaddressed health issues.
The video implies a need for a systemic change in the medical industry to prioritize patient well-being over financial interests.
Dr. Gooby's decision to leave his profession was driven by a deep sense of moral responsibility and a desire to align his work with his values.
The transcript raises questions about the transparency and honesty in reporting surgical success rates and the impact on patient expectations.
Dr. Gooby's story serves as an example of the moral courage required to challenge the status quo within the medical field and prioritize patient care.
The video encourages viewers to seek out alternative methods for managing pain and health, suggesting that the current medical system may not always offer the best solutions.
The transcript concludes with an invitation for further discussion and a call to action for those interested in exploring non-surgical health solutions.
Transcripts
last week an incredibly Brave human
being released a video that kind of blew
my mind and will probably blow your mind
too if you haven't seen it already so an
MIT trained neurosurgeon quit his job
and explained to the entire world last
week why he quit his job and it doesn't
have anything to do with office drama or
anything like that it has to do with the
way the medical system is set up the way
surgeries help and don't help the human
body and really it has to do with what
it means to be a human being who feels
good about his or her place in the world
so this guy Dr Gooby made a video that's
quite long about 45 minutes long he's
standing in the mosquito infested
Wilderness and he delivers some
incredible pieces of wisdom that you and
I are going to watch here and he's going
to be talking about some key pieces
about the medical system that you need
to hear about back surgery that you need
to hear about the realities of what
spinal surgery can even do for you so
let's jump right into it this clip is
from around 8 minutes into the video and
he gets into some pretty deep vulnerable
stuff here so in my last year of
residency I um I learned how to do spine
surgery cuz that's what most
neurosurgeons do it's the most common
thing is what a regular neurosurgery job
is is fixing people's um worn out necks
and
backs and uh you know I
graduated and I got my first job and um
yeah I knew that something was not right
right
away you know I had good partners I had
good hospitals that I worked that uh but
something was not right I was very
unhappy I I and on the surface it didn't
make sense I had um I was getting paid
very well it was a very well-respected
job I had good colleagues had good
support but I was the most
unhappy um that I've ever been and I
couldn't really figure it out for a long
time when you think about a neurosurgeon
you're generally going to think of them
as somebody who's well paid and pretty
happy with their life because they're
probably pulling down about a half
million dollars a year but for this guy
to come out and say hey I knew something
was wrong from the beginning should clue
you into what's happening within the
medical system he's going to explain
this a little bit more but when you
think about any job you've had that you
you hated it probably had something to
do with your having to do stuff you
think is
pointless and for which you are
unappreciated so he doesn't quite
understand at this point but a couple
minutes later he gets right to the heart
of it it's around 10 minutes and 12
seconds in going back to medical school
when when I took that oath and I had
that um older Professor say that your
job is to relieve suffering you know
that's what I
understood to um of what it means to be
a good doctor and I had learned all
these fancy spine surgery techniques to
do all this incredible surgery work
through tiny cuts and it's called
minimally evasive spine surgery it's the
latest
technology we use navigation like a GPS
inside the operating room like all all
the latest techniques you know I learned
and I learned how to do well and I I did
them and I I helped I helped a lot of
people
out but there were way more people that
I couldn't help and that's because um so
his training made him believe hey my job
is to help people but is my job really
helping people how would you feel if you
were trained to help people but
everything you were shown how to do
didn't seem to to actually help what I
what I realized later on is that you
those those aren't fixing the problem
there's so many people with with back
problems neck pain back pain nerve pain
down their arms and
legs
surgery surgery might make him better
for a little bit but it didn't address
what caused that disc to wear out or the
disc to bulge or the joint to get
loose or the
the the disc in between the bones to
disappear and then the bones are rubbing
on each other those surgeries they don't
address that if you have ever been
considering spinal surgery or any other
joint surgery what he just said there is
so vitally important surgery doesn't fix
the root cause at best it's just
providing a short-term
solution so what I was doing was I was
doing the surgeries that I learned how
to do I was trying to help people but
these surgeries they weren't fixing the
problem they would help some people feel
better some people would feel the same
some people would be worse u a lot of
people I saw in clinic I had to tell
them that oh surgery is not going to
help
you and of course they would be
devastated cuz I was sort of their last
hope there is so much honesty and
bravery for this former surgeon to be
saying what he's saying it everything
he's saying is actually borne out in the
research literature as well the
surgeries that surgeons do to fix your
back pain or your hip pain or whatever
they're not guaranteed they're nowhere
near guaranteed and this surgeon had to
face it and see it every day and
honestly assess whether or not what he
was doing was helping people and he saw
well sometimes they got better sometimes
they're the same and sometimes they get
worse so it's not like you can say oh my
back hurts the surgeon's going to fix me
if you have a well-trained surgeon with
experience and he's still telling you
well you might get better you might get
worse you might be the same what does
that say about the actual surgery that
all weighed really heavy cuz I thought I
was going to relieve suffering and I did
relieve some suffering but I saw so much
more suffering that I couldn't
relieve even if I tried even if I tried
to do
surgery and so then I want to jump way
ahead in the video where he actually
talks about the medical system why are
surgeries like spinal surgeries still
being done to fix people when they
clearly don't fix the root cause and
don't deliver on the results but the way
that everything is set up in the whole
country it's not any particular Hospital
the way things are set up is that
the hospital needs to make money they
need to make money they need to they
need to
grow economically they need to grow
economically the problem there is that
if you figure out a way to help patients
heal and that and that way doesn't
include a pill or a surgery
well then the hospital and the doctor
are in big trouble
because if you figure out a way to help
people heal and you can't charge them
for it well then you've just um worked
yourself out of a job so that basically
Nails it this is something that I've
been saying to people about shoulder
surgery hip surgery and also spinal
surgery for years you have to understand
exactly what Dr Gooby is saying here the
hospitals depend on the revenue that
they get from
expensive
procedures if they don't keep pushing
and Performing these expensive
procedures these hospitals
close you have to lay off nurses and
doctors if you find a cheap easy easily
accessible cure for people's back pain
hip pain knee pain shoulder pain
whatever then you have killed the Golden
Goose so you're you're not allowed to
propagate and promote
solutions that people have control of
themselves that they can easily do
themselves maybe not always easily but
which they can actually do without
needing to go through a highly trained
highly paid professional that's a system
that's designed to make you make bad
decisions and choose procedures that are
not actually
in your best interest but I really felt
like really felt like the focus of
medicine wasn't in the right place it
wasn't in healing it was in making money
from surgeries and pills and
images whatever you can make money from
again it's all about how much revenue
can be derived from procedures whether
it's your x-rays your pills your
specialist consult the surgery you
eventually get the hospital makes money
all the professionals involved make
money Dr Gooby doesn't even get into the
insurance side of this but I'll link to
another doctor who has actually
discussed this in detail but the short
version of this is that in order for
insurance companies to increase their
profits they also need to increase their
expenditures because they are required
by law to spend a certain percentage of
what they bring in they're only allowed
to keep a c certain percentage as profit
and so if you want the total amount of
profit you're making to go up next year
you have to make sure that every single
year the amount you're spending is going
up as well so that you can justify
increasing the premiums so that the size
of the pi is getting bigger so that even
though you're keeping that same
percentage of Pi the pi is getting
larger and larger
the amount of pie you're getting to keep
as the insurance company is getting
larger and larger now Dr Gooby does go
on to explain in this video how
miserable he was and the terrible toll
he was taking on his mind and his body
and his spirit and I really encourage
you wherever you are in your life to
watch the video to listen to it I
encourage you to just put it on two
times speed because there are a lot of
moments of Silence where he's thinking
so you can just listen to it as a
podcast and here are some of his
thoughts and here are some of the things
that really were torturing him and
really drove him to make this final
decision of you know what I'm done I've
got to get out of here I talk a lot
about hip surgery knee surgery shoulder
surgery spinal surgery even foot surgery
on this channel and everything you've
just heard doct Gooby say is going to be
applicable to whatever surgery you're
considering ing when you look at the
success rates of hip surgeries and
shoulder surgeries you're going to find
that there is a lot of gobble deg there
is a lot of effort to conceal the true
success rates in weird little numbers
and allowing surgeons to determine what
success really means instead of asking
patients what it really means and Dr
Gooby is a
really admirable example of a surgeon
who was really being honest with his
results honest in assessing whether he
was succeeding and really paying
attention to whether his patients were
really doing better and he didn't let
the sunk costs blind him to the
realities of what he was doing and he
didn't allow himself to get sucked into
well I'm making good money so
that's that's it that's all that's the
only motivation I need to keep doing
this but not everybody makes that moral
decision and that and that really does
show a level of moral character that I
think all of us should applaud and all
of us should take as an example wherever
we are in our lives and whatever
decisions we're trying to make about our
livelihoods if you are thinking about
some sort of joint surgery and you're
interested in learning a little more
about the history of orthopedic surgery
looking at some of the evidence and also
understanding all of these perverse
incentives I do have an article that
I'll link to in the description box that
I encourage you to read my figurative
hat is off to Dr Gooby this was such an
incredible display of bravery and
honesty if you're out there Dr Gooby
seeing this I'd love to talk to you if
you're a friend of Dr goobies and you
can somehow get us in touch so that I
can interview him and speak with him I
would love that and I appreciate your
help if you have any other thoughts
you'd like to share about this video
drop them in the comment section down
below subscribe to this channnel and if
you're looking for ways to rebuild your
body at home go to Upright health.com
DIY to find a program that'll work for
you as always I hope you remember that
pain sucks life shouldn't
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