In many hospitals, the length of the white coat is related to the length of training. Medical students wear the shortest coats

Hospitals want physicians to spend patients home faster, so some doctors are given bonuses for getting their patients out of the hospital quickly.

(Evan Levine, MD, from Reader's Digest )

When a doctor tells you to lose 15 to 20 pounds, what he really means í you need to lose 50.
(Tamara Merritt, DO, MD, Brewter, Washington, Reader's Digest )

Avoid Friday afternoon surgery. The day after surgery í when most problems happen. If the next day is Saturday, you are flying by yourself without a safety net, because the units are understaffed and ERs are overwhelmed because doctors' offices are closed.

Anatomy of a Doctor's Bill

Just how much of the $100 your doctor charges for taking 30 minutes to investigate your stomach pain goes into his pocket?
After paying the bills, he gét less than half. The breakdown, according to Robert Lowes, senior editor at Medical Economics:

$3.50 for malpractice insurance
$3.50 for equipment , repairs, and maintainance
$6 for supplies , icluding gớn, tounge depressors, and copy paper
$7 for rent and utilities
$11 for office expenses , such á telephones, accounting fees, advertising, medical journals, licenses, and taxes
$28 for secreaty , office manager, and medical assistant salaries and benefits
$41 amount that goé into doctor's paycheck

Over the course ò a year, that adds up to $155000 , the annual salary of the average family physician. That number rose just 3.3% between 2002 and 2006 , while expenses increased nearly 25% over the same period.