Provide names of other journalists involved.
The series was titled “Doctors Inc.,” and it was written by Gardiner Harris.
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
March 6, April 2, April 23, May 30, July 11 and Oct. 2 of 2011
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
The stories focused on the extraordinary changes affecting medical practice, including the decline of the solo practitioner, the disappearance of talk therapy in psychiatry, the rise of shift work, the increasing emphasis on social skills and doctors’ changing politics.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
. Most of the documents involved workplace surveys, studies by specialty societies, salary information and other basic workplace data involving physicians. All of the independent data were fairly easily accessible. It was the private information, including information about how much individual physicians made, that was particularly hard to get. It took me months to find a solo practice doctor, for instance, who was willing to share in detail data about his or her take-home pay.
Explain types of human sources used.
Finding people was the hardest part about doing these stories. For instance, I needed a psychiatrist who was old enough to remember the old ways of doing his profession and talkative enough that he was willing to voice publicly what so many bemoan privately — the wide gap between the way he would like to practice and the way he does practice. I interviewed dozens of psychiatrists before finding just the right one.
Results:
The results have been widespread discussion in the field. Each story was the most emailed story of the day and sometimes of the entire week. Collectively, the stories generated thousands of comments, with many of them stretching pages. I know of no other series in recent history that has generated as much reader comment and interest.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No corrections.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
8. My advice to other journalists is to listen to your sources and remember that some of the best stories are those that are happening right in front of your face.