Diabetes and the Family Practitioner

Abstract

The past decade has witnessed an exponential increase in the number of diabetics in this country, but there has been no evidence of an increase in the number of physicians with a primary interest in the disorder. This is not surprising. The whole medical aid system is weighted in favour of the more invasive and procedurally-oriented of our brethren; witness the number who profess an expertise in gastro-enterology, based on a passing acquaintance with endoscopy, often of the 'watch one, do one and then teach one' variety. Those physicians of the (very) old school who earn their keep by their cognitive skills, constitute a dwindling and ever more poverty-stricken minority.