According to a November 7, 2024 article in Medscape Medical News, 15 physicians will serve in the U.S. Congress, with the possibility of 3 more whose elections, at that time, were too close to call. From what I can tell through a more recent Google search, there will be 19 physicians in the 2025 session of the U.S. Congress, 15 in the House of Representatives and 4 in the Senate. That number is similar to the totals serving in the 2024 session of Congress. All four U.S. Senators, however, are Republicans while the House physicians are 9 Republican and 6 Democrat.
“So what?” you say. “Who cares if doctors serve in Congress?” Only a few of them have recognizable names or have a dominant influential persona. Maybe that will change with the new faces elected this November, but only Senators John Barasso (R-Wy) and Rand Paul (R-KY) and Representative Ronny Jackson (R-Tex), the former White House physician, have names I have heard previously.
What makes a physician decide to forsake a medical education and career and give up practice to be a partisan politician? How can one, after being educated in one direction, decide to alter his/her career in a totally opposite direction? What is the attraction for a professional who focused on one-to-one patient interactions to suddenly be thrust on the National stage and have to get 99 Senators or 434 Representatives to agree with him? Well, I don’t know for sure, but I have some thoughts, and these thoughts have never been possibilities I considered.
So, why does a physician decide to run for, and serve in, Congress?
One: The doctor has a severe case of NARCISSISM! He/she has a very high regard for his/her importance in American society. His/her wisdom and intelligence are such that they must be expressed freely and shared with millions. “I’m certain I will make a difference.”
Two: The doctor is bored with medical practice and is suffering from a severe case of “burn out.” Life and medical practice have become routine and unchallenging, and a new career, or a new direction, is presumed to be the solution.
Three: The doctor has an issue about which he/she is extremely passionate, and finds that running for Congress is one effective way to be an advocate for, or against, that problem.
Four: At age 21 or 22, the doctor made a career choice but later discovered a passionate interest in politics and the law. He/she finds serving on committees and boards much more interesting and exhilarating than seeing sick people.
Five: Serving in Congress you don’t have to deal with the onerous restrictions and limitations of Medicare and its miserable reimbursement every day, and you have a far greater chance of earning a good living without having to work hard for it and fight insurance companies for every penny.
Dr. G’s Opinion: For the life of me, I can’t understand why any person who has trained for 11-18 years for a career in medicine, would suddenly make a 180° change to a career in government and politics. It’s like trading a position of trust and respect to a position of deception and pretense. While doctors have an embarrassingly low approval rating of 69%, it is nowhere near as low as the dismal 19% approval rating of the job Congress is doing. It’s descending “from the penthouse to the outhouse!” Twelve of the 19 doctors come from the “flyover states” in the middle of the country while the other 7 are from “blue states.” More conservative voices and thoughts are thus represented.
You have to have the personality of a politician, not that of a family physician. You have to be more like the flamboyant surgeon than the gentle pediatrician. These are the people who should better represent the physician community and advocate on our behalf, but they are a small minority that no one gives much of a chance to impact the government’s attitude. And the country has a lot more pressing issues than physician concerns. Still, many of them are good sources of information for the other 516 non-physicians to get a better view of the healthcare system. More physicians are needed in Congress, but to do so will require a massive change in career direction.
References: Southwick R, Payerchin R. Physicians in Congress. Med Econ 2024 November 6.
news.Gallup.com/Congress-and-the-Public/Congress-approval-rating.
News.Gallup.com/nursers-first-doctor-distant-second-in-healthcare-provider-ratings.
Dotinga R. How did physician lawmakers fare in U.S. Congressional Elections? Medscape Medical News/Business of Medicine 2024 November 7.
SENATORS IN Congress:
Barasso (R-Wyo)
Cassiday (R-La)
Marshall (R-Kan)
Paul (R-KY)
REPRESENTATIVES:
Besa (D-CA)
Caraveo (D-CO)
DesJarlais (R-Tenn)
Dunn (R-FL)
Green (R-Tenn)
Harris (R-MD)
Jackson (R-Tex)
Joyce (R-PA)
McCormick (R-GA)
Miller-Meeks (R-IA)
Murphy (R-NC)
Ruiz (D-CA)
Schrier (D-Wash)
Dexter (D-ORE)
Morrison (D-Minn)
