House Calls

:19:02

Not bad?

:19:03

I look fantastic.

:19:06

Actually, I’m very glad
to meet you

:19:07

because I didn’t thank you
properly for all you did.

:19:09

Oh, come on.

:19:11

You stuck your neck
way out for me.

:19:12

Nonsense.

:19:13

My nurse told me they
were laying odds of 2-to-1

:19:16

that you’d be defrocked,
or destethoscoped,

:19:18

or whatever it is
they do to doctors.

:19:20

Quite a talker,
your nurse.

:19:21

Well, it’s sociable
during an enema.

:19:25

Showtime, folks.

:19:28

Since the 19th century

:19:29

and the advancement
of medical science,

:19:32

the physician has assumed

:19:34

a godlike role
in American society.

:19:36

But whatever happened
to the old family doctor?

:19:40

Making house calls
in the middle of the night,

:19:42

driving through a blizzard,
the wind howling,

:19:45

temperature way below zero,

:19:48

snow pelting down.
What happened to him?

:19:51

He caught cold
and died, I suppose.

:19:53

It’s true. The old
family practitioner is gone.

:19:56

But it still takes incredible
dedication to become a doctor today.

:19:59

Yes, yes.

:20:00

First, the difficulty of
getting into medical school...

:20:03

Yes. In view of all this,
what advice would you have

:20:05

for a young person
who wants to go into medicine?

:20:08

My advice is always the same
and always simple.

:20:11

Marry money.

:20:12

But seriously,
Dr. Nichols.

:20:15

What became
of “the house call”?

:20:19

Listen, it’s a matter
of practicality.

:20:21

Are you serious?

:20:22

Intensely, sir.

:20:24

Well, today, you’ve got
a situation

:20:25

where a doctor can handle
five patients in his office

:20:28

in the same time it takes
to make one house call.

:20:30

Therefore, you have five people
who are helped instead of one.

:20:33

Also five people who are
charged instead of one.

:20:35

Beg your pardon?

:20:36

I said, also five people
who are charged.

:20:38

Our mail in this area is...

:20:40

I prefer to think of it
as five patients being helped.

:20:42

Do you indeed? Money, of
course, is of no consequence.

:20:45

Good medical care
is not cheap.

:20:46

Neither is bad medical care.

:20:48

I read in a magazine,
over the past 20 years,

:20:50

doctors have become
the highest-paid income group

:20:52

in the entire country.

:20:53

Uh, Mrs. Atkinson, no offence,

:20:54

but you don’t know what the
hell you’re talking about.

:20:57

Do you know how much it costs
to run a medical practice?

:20:59

Take a simple
routine check-up.