Mourning the End of Private Practice

This morning, not having a lot of professional stuff to do, I went to Medical Grand Rounds on current stroke recommendations.  Very well done and informative.  My friend Tony who gave the presentation really likes being the doctor.  He works for the hospital, having obtained a secure position there after his group practice which dominated neurology in the area overextended itself and had to disband.  I see him in the doctors lounge most mornings, planning out his day though the unexpected nature of acute strokes must make planning difficult.   He takes care of the patients, somebody else takes care of the business.  That is probably the way we are all heading if we can be absorbed somewhere.

Still, as I read the postings on Medscape's Physician Connect posting service, there are a lot of people who realize the end of their private practice independence is looming but are either in denial, rationalization or mourning.  Hard to tell which, or maybe a mixture.