Originally Posted by Greaseball
What do you call a medical student who graduates last in his class?
Doctor.
Not necessarily. If they cannot get into a residency program, which is dependant on how well they perform in medical school, they cannot be licensed to practice.
I hate the attitude that doctors are gods, but I also hate the attitude doctors are presumptuous no-nothing twits. I think of doctors as someone that I am consulting with for their particular area of expertise, instead of blindly following or avoiding.
OH, I don't think all (or even most) doctors are twits!
I, for one,
my pediatrician. And 95% of the time I love my ob's advice
In fact, today, he sat in his office with me after his appointment and explained why/how uric acid and creatinine levels are important and what they mean. It was very cool and he treated me like I was both educated and worth talking to
Yes, they went to med school, but I know my child. I like to think of my docs as reference people, not the end all, be all that some people think docs are. If my doc talks down to me or thinks he/she is better than I am BECAUSE they went to med school, that's when I look for a new doc. I've changed several times in my life and don't have a problem doing it again, if needed.
A dr patient relationship is a partnership, with both being equal partners, IMO.
Yeah, I just don't understand why anyone would assume that the information students receive in medical school cannot be wrong, or outdated, or incomplete.
I mean, every generation puts so much faith in doctors and their education, and the next generation looks back and says, "gee whiz, look how many things they were wrong about! Good thing they know everything now!"
Ugh sounds like what my DH said to me when I complained to him about NOT wanting to start feeding my then 4 month old son rice cereal just because the Dr said too. Well he IS the one who went to medical school. So??
I always feel most comfortable with a dr. that admits there are different approaches and that they don't know everything. My dh and I just had this conversation yesterday. They are doctors of medicine and that really limits them to learning about issues beyond just medical treatment. Medical school can't teach you everything so it teaches a standard base with which to build upon. Experience, an open mind, and continued research help doctors to become more knowledgeable and more effective in dealing with the entire body and mind. We were just talking about friends and relatives who defer to their pediatrician on everything related to their children. It is really just a cop out as it lets the parents off the hook from reading, learning, and experiencing so much beyond what the doctor says. But then again, as one friend told me, "ignorance is bliss." Ok, off my soapbox now, lol.
ITA, Bubbles. I do not understand at all why people defer to pediatricians for parenting advice. I don't think of that as medical or health related, why would they?
Originally Posted by shelbean91
Yes, they went to med school, but I know my child. I like to think of my docs as reference people, not the end all, be all that some people think docs are.
A dr patient relationship is a partnership, with both being equal partners, IMO.
what she said. My doc may know THE human body better than me, but *I* know MY body/my child's better than them. If we work together, we can both come out ahead.
I dont see being pregnant or giving birth as being sick so why should I trust a doctor who is trained to fix PROBLEMS and cure DISEASES to give me the best advice and care during these times? jmo...
I think that Doctors are like Plumbers or Car Mechanics. They know how things work and they have experience fixing things, but there is a lot of trial and error and a lot of educated guesswork.
Also, Doctors have a lot more other things to keep in mind beyond what is best for the patient. They have to balance that with the time they spend with a patient, the cost of treatment, safety, etc. They have to deal with the patients problem, but they are also running a business, dealing with insurance companies, goverment agencies, etc. and all of that forces them to sometimes compromise their decisions from what should only be based on what is best for the patient.
Gee that person obviously hasn't read any recent books on medical errors. I keep hearing that medical errors are about the 3rd leading cause of death in the USA.
I must admit ignorance does feel like bliss. It's like when I used to believe in fairies.
I always feel most comfortable with a dr. that admits there are different approaches and that they don't know everything.
Amen to that!
My favorite pediatrician in the world was able to say to me, "You have some really good questions about this and I'm not sure of the answers. I would like to consult with a pediatric neurologist and see what she thinks we should do in this situation." Turns out that the information my ped had was NOT current (about two years out of date). I DON'T expect a general practice doc to know everything. Dane's situation was not totally uncommon and he didn't think the diagnostic tests were necessary, but he was willing to say, "I don't know."
By the way, he was brilliant in some areas (he was the one other docs came to for diagnostic consultation), but instead of letting it make him arrogant, he accepted that he needed help sometimes.
It's not just doctors though, I mean just to take care of yourself you need to not just *believe* everything someone says, even a "professional".
I work at a hospital and that's all I'm going to say about that.
Originally Posted by Empress
Not necessarily. If they cannot get into a residency program, which is dependant on how well they perform in medical school, they cannot be licensed to practice.
I hate the attitude that doctors are gods, but I also hate the attitude doctors are presumptuous no-nothing twits. I think of doctors as someone that I am consulting with for their particular area of expertise, instead of blindly following or avoiding.
I agree!
I have only had a couple bad experiences with Dr.s. I have been very lucky with my OB.
This is particularly interesting with respect to OB practice, because OB is so different from other types of medical practice. Most of the time, docs are looking for a pathology to treat, and that mindset often creeps into OB practice. OBs have trouble looking at pregnant women as healthy, and consequently, in an attempt to "manage" birth, they often employ unproven measures for the sake of diagnosis and treatment. The WHO does not recommend (in fact recommends against) CEFM in most cases, and it has not been proven to be useful in preventing morbidity and mortality, and yet it is regularly employed in the US. WHO recommends C-Section rates of under ten percent, and yet in this country they are approaching twenty five percent. And OB nurses will tell you pitocin is used like water in hospitals. People the world over birth without it, so how can it be necessary in so many cases? Doctors are definitely doing things that are unnecessary and even contraindicated. Of course, I firmly believe that this is driven by the malpractice crisis, particularly in OB. Why do only what is necessary when doing more will CYA, even when it is not medically warranted?
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