Questioning Negative Sentiment Surrounding Doctors

[LightbulbSun]

What's with all the weird thinking from people surrounding doctors? All I hear is either negative sentiment, or just downright conspiratorial thinking.

Examples:

"Oh, my doctor doesn't know what he's doing."
"Doctors are like mechanics. They're just in it for the money."
"Doctors will provide you with unnecessary medication."
"Doctors hurry you out the door as soon as possible just so they can see more patients, and therefore, make more money."

Fortunately, I've never had these experiences before, but I was wondering how one bad apple could make a whole basket of apples bad in one's mind?

 

[Poop-Loops]

Finding a good doctor has always been a total crapshoot for me.

I hurt my knee squatting when I didn't know what I was doing. My doctor's response? Don't squat anymore. Or run. Or bike. Basically, don't do anything. What an idiot.

Needless to say, I'm almost 100% again, by doing rehab.

My mother hurt her back on the job. After a few months of therapy, she still had huge back pain. Orthopedists response? "Well, you've been in therapy for a while. So there shouldn't be any pain. It might just be mental." He didn't even examine her. Her MRI said she had 4 injured discs.

Doctors aren't required to go back to school to learn new treatments and stuff, which is horrible.

Q: What do you call someone who graduated at the top of their class in med school?
A: A doctor.

Q: What do you call someone who graduated at the bottom of their class in med school?
A: A doctor.

Q: What do you call someone who graduated at the top of their class in law school?
A: A lawyer.

Q: What do you call someone who graduated at the bottom of their class in law school?
A: Unemployed.

 

[tribdog]

What's the difference between God and a doctor?
God doesn't think he's a doctor.

 

[LightbulbSun]

Finding a good doctor has always been a total crapshoot for me.

I hurt my knee squatting when I didn't know what I was doing. My doctor's response? Don't squat anymore. Or run. Or bike. Basically, don't do anything. What an idiot.

Needless to say, I'm almost 100% again, by doing rehab.

My mother hurt her back on the job. After a few months of therapy, she still had huge back pain. Orthopedists response? "Well, you've been in therapy for a while. So there shouldn't be any pain. It might just be mental." He didn't even examine her. Her MRI said she had 4 injured discs.

Doctors aren't required to go back to school to learn new treatments and stuff, which is horrible.

Q: What do you call someone who graduated at the top of their class in med school?
A: A doctor.

Q: What do you call someone who graduated at the bottom of their class in med school?
A: A doctor.

Q: What do you call someone who graduated at the top of their class in law school?
A: A lawyer.

Q: What do you call someone who graduated at the bottom of their class in law school?
A: Unemployed.

Well those are some pretty bad experiences, but I'm looking for the underlying basis behind the weird thinking that all doctors are scams because one doctor gave me moronic medical advice.

 

[oedipa maas]

Outside of the US people don't complain about their doctors very much. Maybe that is because your health and your doctor's competence aren't so strongly linked together by your money.

Or maybe people outside the US don't complain about their doctors as much because they are too busy complaining about how the government is (under)funding healthcare...

 

[Kurdt]

Yes it took me 4 years to get diagnosed with Asperger's after constantly going back and forth to various different doctors who had not a clue what was going on. I could have done a lot more by now if it wasn't for that.

 

[Moonbear]

Doctors aren't required to go back to school to learn new treatments and stuff, which is horrible.

Actually, they do. In order to renew licenses, physicians need continuing medical education courses. Some states even mandate which courses. This is similar to lawyers who need continuing legal education to renew their licenses.

Q: What do you call someone who graduated at the top of their class in med school?
A: A doctor.

Q: What do you call someone who graduated at the bottom of their class in med school?
A: A doctor.

Q: What do you call someone who graduated at the top of their class in law school?
A: A lawyer.

Q: What do you call someone who graduated at the bottom of their class in law school?
A: Unemployed.

Again, same thing here...in medicine, they have to pass the board exams, while in law they have to pass the bar exam. Anyone who doesn't pass those exams (likely the ones at the bottom of the class) will not be able to get a license to practice. Getting a medical degree does not automatically make one eligible to practice medicine if they have not passed their board exams.

What folks fail to realize quite often is that humans are NOT all built perfectly to some factory specifications with great quality control. We are all VERY different. Putting you back together when you've broken yourself can be quite difficult in the first place, and then accounting for your unique build can add unexpected complications.

 

[hypatia]

Befor I go to a new doctor, they must pass my interview. I ask them everything from where they went to school, to how long is the wait time in the office. Other things I touch on, if I call with a question about my care, does a doctor or nurse return my call? Where are routine x-rays and laboratory studies performed?
I also chat with people who are waiting to see the doctor, ask them how they like the office, ect.
If I feel uncomfortable at all, I keep looking.

 

[Evo]

I love my doctor, for prescriptions. If I need something I just tell him what I want.

As far as him actually diagnosing something, that's beyond him. I should go to a real doctor sometime soon and get a physical. My doctor has not even suggested that I have my cholesterol checked although I have developed very high blood pressure and my father died of a heart attack at age 53. I told him I did have it checked and it was fine, which was probably why I am not dead. He turned a little red.

All he does is ask me what I want and I tell him. He has 15 minutes alloted to me, so there is no time to actually discuss any problems. We do sing together though during the visit. I love him, although he'll probably be the death of me.

I was going to be a doctor (or forensic pathologist) and have several doctors in the family, so I am sure that I am way too confidant in my self diagnosis. And my knowledge is 30 years old.

 

[Poop-Loops]

Actually, they do. In order to renew licenses, physicians need continuing medical education courses. Some states even mandate which courses. This is similar to lawyers who need continuing legal education to renew their licenses.

Really? It didn't seem like it when I went in with my bad knee. Seems like the guy (who was on the older side) was stuck in 1950 when rehab didn't exist.

Again, same thing here...in medicine, they have to pass the board exams, while in law they have to pass the bar exam. Anyone who doesn't pass those exams (likely the ones at the bottom of the class) will not be able to get a license to practice. Getting a medical degree does not automatically make one eligible to practice medicine if they have not passed their board exams.

Yes, but the point is a bad lawyer won't get hired often, if at all. A bad doctor can continue practice because of the sheer amount of people who require medical attention an don't keep up with who's the better doctor in town.

What folks fail to realize quite often is that humans are NOT all built perfectly to some factory specifications with great quality control. We are all VERY different. Putting you back together when you've broken yourself can be quite difficult in the first place, and then accounting for your unique build can add unexpected complications.

Of course. I'm not saying doctors need to be perfect or get it right the 1st time (I went to a pulmonologist on Tuesday who said they'd do an X-ray first, then a breath test, then something else, etc.), but they need to TRY to help me. When they tell me I can't heal something when I KNOW I can, when I know I can, they tell me I can't? This wasn't cancer we were talking about, this was a hurt knee, which athletes jump back from in weeks. Athletes aren't magical beings, not even when roided up.

Or my mom's doctor telling her that she isn't in pain and it's mental, when she can't even bend over, and he didn't even examine her? That's just ridiculous.

 

[Moonbear]

Really? It didn't seem like it when I went in with my bad knee. Seems like the guy (who was on the older side) was stuck in 1950 when rehab didn't exist.

Did you see someone who specializes in sports medicine or orthopedics, or did you just go to a family doctor who would not specialize in something like that? Your typically family doctor probably spends a lot more time keeping current on things like heart disease and diabetes treatments given the increasing numbers of people with these ailments due to obesity.

Yes, but the point is a bad lawyer won't get hired often, if at all. A bad doctor can continue practice because of the sheer amount of people who require medical attention an don't keep up with who's the better doctor in town.

Sure the bad lawyers get hired, often. So, by your reasoning, if the bad doctors didn't practice, who would those people see?

Or my mom's doctor telling her that she isn't in pain and it's mental, when she can't even bend over, and he didn't even examine her? That's just ridiculous.

Yes, that part is a bit ridiculous. If this is the experience you're having, you need to look for other doctors. Sometimes one cannot identify the source of pain, but to dismiss it without a full exam certainly doesn't seem right.

 

[Poop-Loops]

Did you see someone who specializes in sports medicine or orthopedics, or did you just go to a family doctor who would not specialize in something like that? Your typically family doctor probably spends a lot more time keeping current on things like heart disease and diabetes treatments given the increasing numbers of people with these ailments due to obesity.

No, I went to an orthopedist/sports medicine guy, although I only saw elderly women at his office.

I don't have a "family" GP. I go to the GP when I get sick or for a physical, but other than that I have no need.

Sure the bad lawyers get hired, often. So, by your reasoning, if the bad doctors didn't practice, who would those people see?

Would you rather have a car that didn't work but you had to pay for gas an insurance, or just not have one at all?

Going to a bad doctor is a waste of time and money.

Yes, that part is a bit ridiculous. If this is the experience you're having, you need to look for other doctors. Sometimes one cannot identify the source of pain, but to dismiss it without a full exam certainly doesn't seem right.

Foul play on part of the insurance company (this was a work-related injury) is suspected, but the guy literally had his hand on the doorknob the whole time he talked to her (her English isn't 100%, so I was the translator). He didn't even sit down.

 

[binzing]

God doesn't think he's a doctor.

WOW, then you must be god (him/her/it)self, seeing as you know what (he/she/it) thinks.

 

[Poop-Loops]

That's right. tribdog is God. He wasn't joking or anything.

 

[G01]

Honestly, I don't think people appreciate the good doctors enough. We find doctors who give a lazy diagnosis or with bad people skills and all of a sudden EVERY doctor in the world is a lazy fraud who hates his/her patients and only uses them for the money.

There are many good doctors out there. We shouldn't forget that. If we assume that all doctors are like the horrible description above, we are insulting those who have dedicated their lives to the profession.

 

[Poop-Loops]

Of course there are good doctors. But for me it's always been a crapshoot. It shouldn't have to be that way.

 

[tribdog]

That's right. tribdog is God. He wasn't joking or anything.

Bless you