PROFESSIONPrescription for love: The online way to find a mateBusy physicians are drawn to the ease of online dating in hopes of finding Mr., Ms. or Dr. Right.By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. Feb. 9, 2004. John Peckham, MD, is looking for the love of his life. Should be easy for a physician with a six-figure income who considers himself intelligent, cheerful, healthy and fairly attractive, right? Wrong. "One lady said, 'How come you're not married? All you have to do is hang out at a Starbucks in your scrubs and women should pounce on you like a cat on a grounded bird,' " said Dr. Peckham, a San Diego anesthesiologist in his 40s. "I wish it was true." Still waiting to be smitten, Dr. Peckham has turned to the Internet for help. He and other physicians have joined the growing legions of single Americans who are using online dating services to find their soul mates. Consumers spent $214.3 million on Internet dating in the first half of 2003 -- an increase of 76% over the same period in 2002, according to the Online Publishers Assn. With more people logging on for love, the stigma of online dating continues to erode. Like many other professionals, physicians don't have a lot of time away from work to search for someone special. So they log on to Yahoo's personals, Match.com and other online dating sites, which can start at about $20 a month, depending on the service and length of membership. One service, Date-A-Doc.com, was founded by a physician and caters to health professionals. "How else can you have interaction with someone when you get home at 11:30 p.m.? It's open 24 hours, and it's at your convenience," said Jonathan Raines, MD, 31, a radiology resident in Los Angeles who dabbles in Internet dating. [...]Full text of AMNews content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2004 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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