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Phil Perry

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2 hours ago, facthunter said:

…Check what type of car they drive and where they holiday to see if they live in the same world as you do.. Nev

After their years of study and training, how could you begrudge a medico a decent lifestyle? Rural areas have a critical shortage, so let’s pay them well.

 

However, I do admit to judging a doctor by their casual reading, which usually gets left in the waiting room. After months of waiting and lots of travel, I chose not to use the service of one Sydney surgeon. His defensive bedside manner was bad enough, but the tipping point was the total lack of National Geographics, AGs, or magazines from any Aid agencies or charities in his waiting room.

All I could find to read was magazines about tax dodges.

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9 minutes ago, red750 said:

My cardiologists waiting room features a 32in TV screen playing a huge tank of tropical fish and sharks, like a massive aquarium.

Great idea! Better than the mindless crap too often inflicted on waiting patients.
The best waiting room idea I saw was being advised by the receptionist to wait in the comfort of my car listening to ABC Classics until my turn, when she would call me. Saved me an hour in a room of coughs and sneezes!

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I know I've griped about the useless closed captions on TV for the hard of hearing, but they outdid themselves this morning. In a news discussion about the Reserve Bank's interest decision yesterday, THREE TIMES they depicted "Cash Rate" as "castrate". How are deaf people meant to follow the news?

 

Yes, if the rate had gone up again, many would feel like the RBA was trying to castrate them.

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Yes There's certainly a lot of "nutters" involved in the discussion..  Few mention what the ACTUAL rate is which is what really matters. The most UNREAL situation IS when the rate is near zero. Access to money certainly has a value so to expect it for nothing is the silly bit. . Nev

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They ( medical specialists) get between 3 and 6 million a year. They do not need to consider living in unfashionable places, nor be married to unfashionable women.

This could easily be fixed by making medicare payments geographically-based.

 

They do work harder than their counterparts in communist places....  a cardiologist from the old East Germany once said how he used to only do 2 procedures a day, before "liberation", where he now has to do about 12 a day.

I guess it depends on just who is paying....  I notice here that public patients are treated poorly compared with private patients.

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9 minutes ago, Bruce Tuncks said:

A medical graduate just out of school and with no specialty gets about $1000 a day.

Not in the public health system. A friend of my son's is a junior doctor at John Hunter Hospital in the emergency department.   He certainly does not earn $1000 a day and the hours are pretty shit.

 

Doctor Salaries in Australia – What Should I Expect?

 

 

 

 

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I recently had a carpal tunnel release operation and the surgeon charged me $1,072. I didn't think that was excessive at all. For that price, he had to prep for surgery, carry out the op and then de-prep. The cost included two follow up consultations and he also has to pay staff and business costs. With the hospital, anesthetist, and other costs, the op cost about $3,200 all up, so the orthopaedic surgeon's cut was fairly small I thought. It was worth every cent of it.

 

Not many specialists work alone these days. They seem to band together in groups under an umbrella business name to reduce overheads by sharing staff and office space. With high rental costs and other overheads getting more expensive, it's probably the only way they can stay viable.

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Reporting of the recent loss of an Army helicopter has got me fuming at bloody Americanisms polluting British-based English language!:angry:

 

The persons who died in the incident are being referred to as "aviators". Assuming that only one of the four was operating the flight controls, then there was only one "aviator" in the aircraft. The four persons constituted the "aircrew".

 

 An aviator is a pilot or operator of an aircraft. Though the definition may expand to those directly involved in the flight or navigation of an aircraft, such as onboard flight engineers and navigators, “aviator” typically only refers to those actually doing the flying or responsible for operation.

 

Aircrew are personnel who operate an aircraft while in flight. The composition of an aircrew depends on the type of aircraft, plus the flight's duration and purpose.

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2 minutes ago, pmccarthy said:

Could have been an aviatrix. But it wasn't on this occasion.,

I have always wondered about the word "aviatrix" since the definition of "aviator" is not gender specific.

 

a·vi·a·tor

  (ā′vē-ā′tər, ăv′ē-)

n.
One who operates an aircraft; a pilot.
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Flight Crew would be those involved with active flight operations as distinct from Ground servicing/handling/ ground schools etc Perhaps AVIATOR"S refers to Pilot's only in the minds of some people. I think there's a case for that point of view but some would see it as  discriminatory. Flight attendants are considered as CREW.  Nev

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I have only previously come across "aviator" through references to the US military, mainly the US Navy. The use of the word may imply claims of superior airmanship, as in navy aviator vs. air force pilot. Ever since military aircraft have had a pilot to fly the plane, and observer/gunners to go with them, the people having tasks related to the flight have been called "aircrew". In passenger aircraft, there is that distinction between those who operate the plane and those who take care of the cattle. But all those employed in the plane getting the cattle from place to place are aircrew.

 

There are a few words that describe a person that end in "-or" when describing a male's occupation and "-trix" when the person is female. I was going to mention "procrastinatrix", but I'll put that off for later. Obviously "actor" and "author" don't do "-trix", but add "-ess". "Aviatrix" was first recorded in 1927 when women were entering aviation. Like a lot of these gender based terms, the move to equality has lead to their demise.

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I can't just have one gripe per day. 

 

Redheads aren't what they used to be. Years ago the writing on the box said "Avg contents 50". Each match had big blobs of red stuff on the end of sticks that you could use to make teapot stands. And there were two solid strips of brown stuff along the sides to strike the match on to light it.

 

The boxes I have  contain only 45 matches. I've seen bigger heads on a pimple and the sticks could double as toothpicks. Not only that, but the red stuff come off the stick when you rub it against the pathetic excuse for  striker plate.

 

Redheads is an Australian brand of matches, originally manufactured by Bryant and May in Richmond, Victoria, but now manufactured in Sweden by Swedish Match, who own the trademark. Bryant and May ceased Australian match manufacture in early 1987 as a result of import competition, which seems to have been a problem for them since the 1930s.

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