I start every year with resolutions of being a more considerate and kinder doctor,.. and usually, by march am parroting the line … "resolutions and promises are made to be broken !!",because patients never seem to listen, don`t come for follow up and just don`t seem to care.. and hippocrates,[ if the poor man crossed my path], could be happily strangled!.it makes me wonder,..where are we going wrong… both as doctors and patients????
Doctor`s dogmatism!
1] we are unrealistic…. We tell a working women with two small brats that she should be eating two servings of salads… milk, timely meals and exercise and blah blah … as doctors do we realize the impossibility of the cutting /cooking/balancing and managing that every person endures??
2] we come on too strong …medicine dictates that certain conditions need certain restrictions, so we go happily advising people to stop smoking,…alcohol.. late nights , so whether they lose the habit or not.. we definitely lose a patient and any chance of making a difference!..
3] we never practice what we preach… like parents .. patients watch what we do .. not just what we say .. so when a doctor is puffy and unhealthy over weight and listless, they find it hard to believe that we know what we are talking about!
4] we get too much into the body of the illness… the fault lies both ways,.. the connect that used to be there with patients seems to be lacking.. maybe due to lack of time on the part of the doctor, and trust on the the patient’s part… thus .. the patient becomes a condition,.. and treatments become protocols.
5]we are not ready to accept alternative therapies,.. we seem to think allopathy has all the answers , and are very skeptical of any other treatments patients want to pursue.. maybe we need to understand patients have their own thoughts and expectations, and allowing someone to exercise a decision[ unless life threatening!] is not an insult to our training!
Patients need to know!..
1]Prescriptions are not family property!..but usually once patients have the list of medicines in the bag,[ especially in india!] for anything like a cough and cold, sinusitis,… it will be re-used, passed around, misused until every known organism is resistant. …with no respect or fear of any reactions, side effects, contra indications.sometimes saving a few rupees could become very expensive later!
2]timely investigations actually help us in diagnosis.. the media has badmouthed doctors so much .. that patient usually decide when and how many investigations they want to get done…and lose health, money and time with all the delay,..
3]internet information can never substitute clinical opinions!.,.. no matter how detailed the signs and symptoms, one cannot treat oneself or diagnose a condition based on google search. Somethings are best left to the specialists.
4]honest second opinions are absolutely acceptable.. instead of cloaking it under “my aunt said” and “my neighbor told me” ,.. it is reasonable to ask a second doctor about treatment options. Honesty could actually improve the transparency of disease management.
5]doctors are human too.. and are allowed times of peace and quiet, family time ,.vacations and holidays….and having the cell phone number does not give one the right to use it for silly queries.. and free consultations ..
All we need is a little trust, consideration and confidence in each other,.. maybe this year I will manage to keep my resolutions.. till june!..
