Starting a medical practice was once a slow process. The only legitimate method of advertising, (considered professional) was an ad in the local paper no larger than a business card. No longer restrained by such stupid imposed limitations, it is now possible and acceptable for clinics, hospitals and corporations, to make claims and suggest that their physicians have expertise which is not available elsewhere. Full page ads are common. While it is usually not the physician who makes these claim, the company he works for is not inclined to show much restraint. Unfortunately, better choices by potential patients are not the usual result. Augmentation of these claims is possible with radio and television advertising.
The impact on the physician brave enough to try to go into a solo practice becomes quite understandable. Extinction of this species seems inevitable.
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