Why doctors are referred to as “Practicing” Medicine

By Dr. S Venkatesan

It is  often  quoted  “Practice makes every one  perfect”  . . .  Doctors continue to practice for ever  . . .If practice is only  a rehearsal, when do they perform for real ?

And, we know a doctor spends his entire life time practicing  . . In other words doctors are only experimenting.

So, do not get fooled by his errors. Errors are bound to happen during their practicing sessions!

The problem with general public  is , they never understand this basic fact – medical science  is nothing but  a, on going research on human body. If only we understand this we can accept the millions of medical  mistakes that occur  every day in  the global  medical  profession. The major aim of modern medical science is to reduce that.

Of course, negligence is a punishable offense. But, we should also realize, non- negligent medical mistakes are many fold higher than negligent ones.

While a careful doctor will avoid negligent mistakes a thinking doctor will avoid non-negligent mistakes also.

This puts on us back on doctors. We need to critically analyze, every treatment modality we follow.

Griffin City Commissioners are spending tax dollars in places one might not expect.  

Here we take a close look at what your City Commissioners voted to pay City Manager Jessica O’Connor, who in 2019 reported not having a job description.

The following are figures from the payroll department of Griffin beginning with calendar year 2021.

Jessica O'Connor was paid $134,966 in 2021, according to public payroll data from the City of Griffin. Her job title was listed as a City Manager.

From 2020 to 2021, Jessica O'Connor's salary increased by 41% ($38,917). Over the full recorded period from 2019 to 2021, the salary increased by approximately 53% ($46,731), representing an average annual growth of 23.68%.

In 2021, Jessica O'Connor's compensation was:

·                                 184% higher than the average salary at City of Griffin.

·                                 35% lower than the average salary for a City Manager position in 2021.

·                                 154% higher than the average salary in the broader City employer category.

Public records show four employment records for Jessica O'Connor with the City of Griffin, reflecting two distinct job titles over time:

Kimberly Slaughter Elections & Voter Registration Director

 Please find attached the AIP-ABM daily STAT Report for 6/12/2026 for the June 16, 2026 General Primary election.

New research by Stanford health economist Maria Polyakova takes an in-depth look at how — and how much — physicians are paid in the United States.

Physicians are among the highest earners in the United States, averaging $350,000 in annual earnings. And their salary figures are frequently cited as an important force driving high health-care costs.

However, new research by Stanford health economist Maria Polyakova and colleagues — using unique data on physician income — shows that physicians’ personal earnings account for 8.6 percent of national health-care spending.

The working paper, released by the National Bureau of Economic Research, uses individual tax records from 2005 through 2017 for nearly a million U.S. physicians to document how earnings vary over a physician’s life, examine major differences in earnings across specialties, regions and the type and size of health-care institutions and private practices. Physician income depends on where they go to medical school and whether they become primary care physicians or specialists like neurosurgeons. The complexity of physicians’ incomes that are usually a combination of wage and business income make it hard to get a simple take on physician income. [Click Here and Read the Complete Article]

City Manager O'Connor

About Jessica O'Connor

Jessica O'Connor was paid $171,121 in 2024, according to public payroll data from City of Griffin. Her job title was listed as a City Manager.

From 2021 to 2024, Jessica O'Connor's salary increased by 27% ($36,155). Over the full recorded period from 2019 to 2024, the salary increased by approximately 94% ($82,886) ,

GRIFFIN, GA —Obtained documents reveal a pattern of delayed disclosures, withheld records, and questionable search practices by the City of Griffin, raising concerns about potential violations of the Georgia Open Records Act (ORA) and prompting calls for a criminal investigation.

From the Towaliga News —

Towaliga News alleged that Griffin officials knowingly withheld responsive documents, including a high‑profile request involving an alleged romantic/sexual relationship between City of Griffin Manager Jessica O'Connor and former City of Griffin City Manager Kenny Smith and another involving safety inspections tied to a fatal workplace accident.

A 2024 Open Records Request About an Alleged Relationship Was Withheld from Towaliga News. [Click Here and Read the Complete Article]

It's Bob Time

Where are you, Madam Griffin, City Manager?  I am going to tell you, but one of your employees should have already done so.  

On one of the city streets I travel quite often, part of the road has sunk, and water has continued to flow from it for the past three months.  I am not sure if the water is clean or sewer, but whatever, this problem should be fixed right now, before someone’s car is swallowed up due to the road collapsing.

First time serving City Commissioner Zachery Fuller from District 5, who has said many times how he was and is working for a better Griffin.

That statement alone is good for any politician to make, but he has failed to lay out his plan for how he intends to make Griffin better.

Is he shooting you a bucket full of malarkey, or does he (Fuller) really have a plan and failed to tell the public?

There have been many that came before Fuller with much more knowledge of what Griffin needs has failed, what makes Commissioner Fuller believes he can accomplish what others failed to do?

I must admit the Griffin City Commissioners are great at reading proclamations and smiling for the camera, even better than that, they can spend money on items that don’t mean a thing to the people of Griffin, like raising the pay for the city manager to over a hundred thousand dollars yearly.

The Griffin City Manager is a beautiful lady, but she seems to be totally lost when making Griffin Great Again.

Here is one of many things that grip my rear-end: see police officers ride by where signs are posted “No Parking this side” and vehicles are parked where the sign reads “NO PARKING”.

Where are the Code Enforcers?  What are they doing to correct problems in this dirty little town?

By Dr. Otis Brawley

The doctor-patient relationship is a complex one.

It occurs at a stressful and busy time for both the patient and the doctor. Because it involves at least two humans, there are usually at least three versions of the conversation: the doctor’s, the patient’s, and the true version.

A survey published this week in the journal Health Affairs reflects this complex relationship. Lisa Iezzoni and her colleagues surveyed 1,891 physicians nationwide about how honest they are with their patients regarding medical mistakes and a patient’s prognosis.

The survey found that although two-thirds of doctors agree they should share serious medical errors with their patients, one-third did not completely agree. Nearly two-fifths of the respondents said they did not disclose their financial relationships with drug and device companies. And more than 55% of physicians said they often or sometimes described a patient’s prognosis in a more positive manner than the facts might support.

These survey results are unsettling. We all want to think of medicine as an honorable profession and that the people in it work with integrity. {more}

While we should all be appalled that a doctor would deceive or lie to a patient, we should also look beyond the white coat for an explanation. While it is not a vindication, the fact is that physicians are human. They have all the feelings and failings of humans.

Please keep in mind that medical errors can be due to negligence, but they are more often a failure to analyze data appropriately.

Many doctor errors are simply a matter of bad luck: The doctor was not good enough that day and would have done better the day before or the day after. Some bad outcomes are not really the physician’s fault.

Some doctors do not admit error out of fear of litigation. But my experience is that the discomfort of addressing one’s own failings or weaknesses is more commonly the reason for not coming forward.

It is a normal human tendency not to want to admit an error. Confession is difficult, especially when you have to admit responsibility to the person you have hurt.

In the case of a “bad luck” outcome, the physician may be unwilling to admit their lack of control. This is often due to a lack of communication during the consenting process – when doctors explain the possible outcomes or side effects – and can lead to patient anger when things go badly.

Ironically, when I have seen a doctor admit an error, the patient or the patient’s family is usually forgiving and rarely sues.

So why would a doctor not be honest about a patient’s disease or prognosis? This is likely because doctors are not always the best communicators. Medical explanations involve defining some complicated things. This is difficult and it is often easier to just not do it. Sometimes there is a tendency to simplify to the point of not telling the truth.

It is unfortunate that our medical system pays doctors handsomely to do medical procedures, but does not reimburse well for talking to, counseling, and spending time with patients.

In a normal office environment, a physician is often forced to see four or more patients per hour. Questions go unanswered or half answered as the physician moves from room to room assessing the patient, reading a patient’s history and lab research, documenting, and looking things up.

It’s a rare private practice physician who can block extra time for a patient with special needs. This can be costly.

Telling a patient bad news is horribly difficult. It is always an emotional struggle for any caring human being. The emotional incentive is to hold back information or be less than honest. It is harder for me to tell a patient that they are dying – and that all we can reasonably do is try to keep them comfortable – than it is to tell a family member that a patient has died.

As someone who studies how health care is provided and how health care is consumed, this survey’s findings do not surprise me, and the solutions are not simple.

We need to transform health care. This involves empowering the patient. Patients need to take an interest in their own health. Ask good questions and expect if not demand, answers. Some patients will need advocates or navigators to help them.

The transformation also involves more members of the medical profession coming to realize the meaning of the term “profession.” A “profession” is a group of people who put their own interests secondary to the interests of the people they serve. A profession is also a group that educates and polices itself.

My greatest concern is that many doctors and patients fail to comprehend just how complicated medicine can be.

Even doctors fail to remember that medicine is a science and an art, often with unclear answers. There are things in medicine that are scientifically known, and things that are unknown. There are also things that are believed.

The wise physician draws a distinction between the three. The unwise doctor often confuses what he believes with what he knows. These unwise doctors may not know they are not telling their patients the truth.

The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of CNN, The American Cancer Society, Emory University, or griffinjournal.