A complete medical examination includes a history, physical examination and basic laboratory analysis. Performed with compassion and care, it provides a diagnosis eighty percent of the time. Busy physicians, who find themselves pressed for the time necessary to complete this important task, compromise this complicated and time-consuming procedure. As a result, initial diagnosis is prone to errors and delays negatively affecting the patient and physician alike. As the new government health care initiatives start, and if the physician shortage does not improve, the author fears that the situation will worsen. Government and the medical and nursing community must find ways to correct this deficiency.