more on qualified physician parasitologists

[Omar O. Barriga]

A lot has been said about about physicians in the USA not knowing 
parasitology and veterinarians knowing quite a bit of it. 

With more than 30 years of teaching in veterinary and medical schools,
I can testify to both of them.

Don't forget, however, that the USA HAS THE BEST MEDICINE THAT MONEY 
CAN BUY. Parasitic diseases of humans are not common in the USA (thanks to our 
excellent sanitation) and,therefore, there is no money to be made on it.
A physician has to be a fool to spend time studing parasitic diseases to see
a case every other week instead of studing cardiology and see a case every 
fifteen minutes. At $ 100 to $ 200 the visit, that makes quite a bit of a 
difference.

It won't be until we, the public, demand socialized medicine that all 
specialties will have takers. If the government pays $ 200,000 a year to 
a physician to see one patient or 20 patients a day, many professionals will
follow their interest rather than their wallet.

I am sorry I sound so cynical but I am tired to see so many poor people in the 
USA that cannot afford medical care while a few affluent people get a routine 
CT scan for a sinus infection. The situation is much better balance in other
countries as developed as the USA (Canada, for example) and even in many 
underdeveloped countries as in South America. One wonders if development means
anything for the masses or just for a few chosen ones.

				Omar O. Barriga, DVM, PhD