smallswingshoes:

hearthburn:

captainmdphd:

licensetomurse:

meanwhileonwednesday:

As a medical professional and a medically complicated human this is very important to me

That’s not wrong.

The tone of both comments is what causes poor doctor-patient relationships. Don’t underestimate how much education a doctor has. This doesn’t simply stop with medical school. It continues during residency and fellowship. For good doctors, this continues during practice. Good doctors stay up to date with medical guidelines and the changes that occur over time. Good doctors will research any condition their patient has with which they’re unfamiliar. Good doctors will listen to their patients and gently correct errors and misconceptions. Unfortunately, not all doctors are good doctors.

On the other hand, I’ve learned tons from my patients. Things that no book will ever teach me. As a patient, you deserve to be treated respectfully. Most doctors do their best to listen to their patients. No one puts in the time and effort required to be a physician with the goal of being a shit doctor. Of course, it happens. Doctors are humans and are just as flawed as everyone else. That’s the exception rather than the rule. Please respect the fact that we have a better filter for information than you do, regardless of how long you’ve had an illness. When patients request a specific test that I know is not indicated, I ask WHY. When a patient thinks they have an illness that that subjective and objective data do not support, I ask WHY. What are they concerned about? What is their fear? This is the question that needs to be addressed. That information generally allows me to either come up with a different, more appropriate test or list the reasons why their fear isn’t likely to be a reality. It’s all a two-way street that requires respect from all parties involved. Don’t go to a doctor who doesn’t respect you. Don’t go to a doctor who makes you uncomfortable. Don’t go to a doctor who is overly dismissive of your concerns. These are all red flags that you’re dealing with an asshole who just happens to be a doctor.

I mean, if you’ve got a choice in what doctor you go to, that’s great. I guess I’ve consistently had shit doctors because it wasn’t until… oh, 2010 or so that I had one that would listen to a goddamn word out of my mouth. And then that one retired.

You know why people have an antagonistic reaction to doctors? Because many of them have twenty or thirty years of their questions, concerns, and sometimes even symptoms being outright ignored.

Me at 14: So my periods are leaving me in so much pain I’m throwing up all day.

Doctor: They’ll get better when you have kids.

Me at 16: So I’m getting these crippling headaches.

Doctor: Maybe you should try taking some Tylenol. *writes down the symptoms I gave him COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THAN I SAID THEY WERE* (found that out years later)

Same year, different doctor: So take these I guess. *gives me pain meds that were so strong they affected my pulse, no follow-up*

*insert long gap of just not going to the doctor*

Me at 32: So along with these other symptoms that add up to GERD, if I go too long without eating it makes me sick.

Gastro Doc: Yeah it’s GERD. I want to check for Barret’s esophagus. (this bit I agreed with) Now here’s the advice I give every single GERD patient no matter what, including the bit about not eating for several hours before bed.

Me: Uhhh, if I go too long without eating it makes me really sick.

Gastro doc: Don’t eat before bed.

And then I look for a camera to stare into like the Office.

If someone is antagonistic towards doctors, if someone is aggressive with their own care, if someone outright tells the doctor to their face that they’re wrong… it’s because of a long history of THIS SHIT. It isn’t a rare doctor that ignores you, it’s a rare doctor that doesn’t. They may not go into the medical field to be bad doctors, but they might not have gone into it to do more than get their years in so they can retire, or so Mom and Dad can brag about the doctor in the family, or for the power trip.

So don’t try to tell me that my doctor has my best interests in mind, because historically that’s been rare. That doctor is going to have to prove it, and I am going to be suspicious at first. And this is just me! I’ve got a few weird body things, but overall I’m pretty functional. The periods got better when I was no longer underweight (which I had to figure out for myself), I worked out a routine for my headaches (which my one Really Good doc gave me an idea for the source of the problem, the rest I figured out on my own), my stomach is largely under control (which I had to figure out for myself), and the only thing that’s really acting up right now are my feet (which I am figuring out for myself). The only thing I really go to the doctor for are antibiotics (when I can’t argue any longer that I don’t need them) and my psych meds (which I ALSO FIGURED OUT FOR MYSELF).

So no, I don’t have a lot of patience with doctors pulling the “Well I went to medical school” card. If that makes you so much better than me, why did I have to figure shit out without you?

I’m getting real fucking tired of seeing doctors reply to posts like these being like “oh but it’s hard for doctors too!”

Honestly, shut the fuck up. SHUT UP SO MUCH. Because, guess what? There is a MASSIVE power difference between the doctor and the patient. Somehow, all this power ends up with the doctor.

While patients obviously shouldn’t treat doctors like shit, I have no patience for this idea that I, as a patient, should kowtow to my doctor. I, the patient, am paying you, the doctor. You are giving ME a service, not vice versa. I should not have to FIGHT you while I’M PAYING YOU in order to be treated LIKE A HUMAN BEING.

I have absolutely no patience for this type of bullshit from doctors. Fuck off.

Edit: also, doctors don’t always go into the profession to “help people.” This is a misnomer. Many go into the profession because of the prestige, money, or the desire for control over people. That combined with how much control they actually DO have over patients make it a wise move to be, at the very least, cautious with a doctor until proven otherwise.

I’ll stop viewing doctors in an adversarial light when the entire industry gets its shit together and treats patients like people. Not gonna hold my breath.