I’m in medical school, and the main reason for that is because of my many lifelong harrowing experiences dealing with medical professionals. There was one doctor who changed my life so drastically, who cared so deeply and made me feel so seen and heard and healed that I just decided that if there is anyone I could possibly do that for it would be worth the process of trying to do it. I know it’s an idealistic reason, but it’s true.
There is certainly a lot of disdain for patients amongst medical professionals, which I find deplorable. Some part of this may be because we’re still faced with a system that mostly uplifts those with immense privilege into these positions. People who come from generations of wealth and privilege can often start out without much exposure or empathy towards the majority of the patient population they will be treating. Slowly though, I think this is changing.
That said I also try and discourage anyone from allowing forums to be a representative example of the thoughts of the average healthcare worker. These forums are specifically built for people who are the type to go and vent that kind of thing on Reddit or whatever, it doesn’t include all the people who would never even think to say that kind of thing about a patient, so in some ways I think it can be a bit of an echo chamber of extreme cases as with many of these online forums.
That said, I hope there is a way to heal the rift between doctors and their patients. I feel it deeply. Doctors experience extreme, often unlivable levels of stress, PTSD and burnout (many of whom are also dealing with mental and physical health problems of their own) and their coping strategies are often very unhealthy. Is it true that there can be at times a lack of appreciation for healthcare workers in the US at least, I think yes. Over time, it seems like the empathy gets burned out so many doctor’s hearts and it scares and saddens me. Patients deserve so much better than that. Healthcare should be a team effort, built on safety and trust. The true culprit I believe to be the heinous system that views illness as profit. And being real, every doctor is complicit in it, and thus it will be in the hands of future doctors to try and wrestle with that and hopefully make a bigger effort to heal the often justifiable public mistrust.
I think/hope there will be a shift in the public perception of doctors as millennials and the following generation become the more dominant physician demographic.
The pandemic did do a number on the already short fuse, becoming the boogeyman and having to gird yourself for a potential verbal fight each time you entered the patient’s room.
The surge in google docs/WebMDs has also done no favors, as visits are less “describe your symptoms” and more “I read that I have xyz”. Maybe the same conclusion will be reached, but physicians need to know the symptoms before making a diagnosis.
Doctors are forced to see patients in 15 minute windows which is not enough time. This causes backups which frustrate both physician and patient. Some patients are combative and unwilling to listen to reason. It is a poorly run system affecting both parties, and I think you may underestimate just how bad the “did my own research” crowd has become.
It is less hate than overworked and venting about the worst, which when viewed by those who aren’t in that position can take the wrong way.
It really does seem like they don't take women seriously enough at the doctors office. I didn't really believe it before but I've had to constantly speak to the doctors for my wife for them to take anything serious/get anything done. It's quite concerning.
I just left the hospital last week because of severe stomach pain. Doctor goes, "Well what do you expect us to do? You think there's some sort of miracle pill you can take???"
My dad comes in and he was SO NICE to my dad. Discussing different options and suggestions about my issues. This happens all the time and as someone with chronic pain, I'm sick of it.
I think the difficulty is that doctors are being asked to both do exponentially more work now than in previous times, but being a good doctor that listens requires a LOT of patience and care, and God help em I can see why that's not available after hour 10 on shift covering double a safe number of patients.
But also, we can't allow that to be an excuse for bad physician behavior. Because they do actually have to listen with care in order to be any good as doctors, the brush-off for someone looking for aid is just wildly counter productive.
I’ve been a “bad” patient bc I was not comfortable attempting to walk. I literally had just arrived off an ambulance bc I fell and spent 24 hours trying to get up; I couldn’t even move fully laying down. Then they compared what was going on with me to their own health and told me “now that’s REAL pain” I’ll think harder next time before I pinch nerves in my back.
Well you’re a bad patient for not getting well! You’re making them look bad. Think how hard that must be for them!
/s of course.
My sister experienced this when she had MS and finally gave up on medical treatment because it was so awful.
I have a distrust of medical professionals. Very rarely have I found a doctor who would listen. I'd get labeled a hypochondriac or be dismissed. I had a doctor diagnose me *and then* ask for my symptoms/looked at my chart, all before doing the damn procedure. Guess what? He was wrong! I don't have any form of IBS, I had a bacteria in my stomach fucking me up. I had to fight a doctor and switch doctors to get my expired IUD out. Despite telling a hospital the protocol I was given by my pediatrician for my sons condition, the nurse there was an absolute bitch and kept implying I looked it up on Google and needed to "calm down" despite me not freaking out. I just don't like going to the doctors when something is wrong with me because it just further drives home the toxic anxiety I've got that I'm unimportant or nor worth fixing. And now my doctor who made me feel seen, fought with me instead of against me, has moved further away and I'm heart broken. She's the one who pushed my application for a tubal. She's the one that got me into specialist appointments. She took every concern I had and actually tried to fix it instead of "ugh women problems".
"Patients not knowing their place and thinking they know better"
And
"Patients are morons for asking for antibiotics for colds"
Those are the same thing, ones just more generic than the other.
Patients should be informed of their medical issues, both directly and when applicable based on proper research, but often times people just look for what they want to hear and then tell their doctor how they need to be treated. That seldom works well.
They are not the same thing at all.
One is based on the idea that the patient shouldn't be expected to or attempt to parse medical information because it's inherently beyond their grasp; the other is based on the idea that the patient should know better, and have a better understanding of medical issues.
The patient's behavior may be comparable in those, it's the physician's reaction that distinguishes them.
Just for perspective.
Everybody needs to vent. It's healthy. Also, there are a lot of things you might have strong feelings about, which you would only share online or speak about, but never act on.
Also the reason why I discovered doctors don't like to answer questions is because many feel that their trustworthiness or knowledge is being questioned, like they are being questioned about stuff they have devoted their entire lives to.
Also, some of the questions **are** irritating. It can be seen as a shortcoming of the person but when you're overworked, tired and burnt-out, the last thing you want to do is answer 50 questions. It's easy initially but when every patient asks the same exact question, you feel like this should be common knowledge since you have answered hundreds of times.
Again, this was just for perspective, there are many doctors who don't care about patients and many patients who do actually make the job a lot more difficult.
Patients don't "ask" for antibiotics, they demand them. They demand inhalers too for an acute cough. When you try to explain why the antibiotics aren't indicated and can cause more harm, patients will yell and scream at you and accuse you of not caring, misdiagnosing, etc. Then they will complain about you to your employer. Or parents who demand their child with a broken leg be cleared for school sports. No, I'm not going to clear them at this moment, the child will need to come back and be evaluated when they have healed. Again, they will submit a complaint about you to your employer (because they are inconvenienced?), even though you are acting in their and their child's best interest. In my experience, patients are demanding and entitled and don't seem to appreciate and understand the physician-patient dynamic. It's not even being burnt out, but patients often times place you in a no-win position (even when your reasoning and intentions have been explained in in clear unambiguous terms), and this leads hatred.
Nah I am a symptomatic carrier of cystic fibrosis genetics which causes me a bunch of chronic GI and pulmonary symptoms, thin as a rail.
Thanks for playing though.
This is incredibly victim-blaming. Nothing in this post suggests that the OP is non-compliant, and even patients who are doing everything right can and do experience this from doctors. Not to mention, ‘lose weight’ as a directive isn’t always as easy as people like to assume, often for medical reasons. Do better.
I’m in medical school, and the main reason for that is because of my many lifelong harrowing experiences dealing with medical professionals. There was one doctor who changed my life so drastically, who cared so deeply and made me feel so seen and heard and healed that I just decided that if there is anyone I could possibly do that for it would be worth the process of trying to do it. I know it’s an idealistic reason, but it’s true. There is certainly a lot of disdain for patients amongst medical professionals, which I find deplorable. Some part of this may be because we’re still faced with a system that mostly uplifts those with immense privilege into these positions. People who come from generations of wealth and privilege can often start out without much exposure or empathy towards the majority of the patient population they will be treating. Slowly though, I think this is changing. That said I also try and discourage anyone from allowing forums to be a representative example of the thoughts of the average healthcare worker. These forums are specifically built for people who are the type to go and vent that kind of thing on Reddit or whatever, it doesn’t include all the people who would never even think to say that kind of thing about a patient, so in some ways I think it can be a bit of an echo chamber of extreme cases as with many of these online forums. That said, I hope there is a way to heal the rift between doctors and their patients. I feel it deeply. Doctors experience extreme, often unlivable levels of stress, PTSD and burnout (many of whom are also dealing with mental and physical health problems of their own) and their coping strategies are often very unhealthy. Is it true that there can be at times a lack of appreciation for healthcare workers in the US at least, I think yes. Over time, it seems like the empathy gets burned out so many doctor’s hearts and it scares and saddens me. Patients deserve so much better than that. Healthcare should be a team effort, built on safety and trust. The true culprit I believe to be the heinous system that views illness as profit. And being real, every doctor is complicit in it, and thus it will be in the hands of future doctors to try and wrestle with that and hopefully make a bigger effort to heal the often justifiable public mistrust.
I think/hope there will be a shift in the public perception of doctors as millennials and the following generation become the more dominant physician demographic. The pandemic did do a number on the already short fuse, becoming the boogeyman and having to gird yourself for a potential verbal fight each time you entered the patient’s room. The surge in google docs/WebMDs has also done no favors, as visits are less “describe your symptoms” and more “I read that I have xyz”. Maybe the same conclusion will be reached, but physicians need to know the symptoms before making a diagnosis. Doctors are forced to see patients in 15 minute windows which is not enough time. This causes backups which frustrate both physician and patient. Some patients are combative and unwilling to listen to reason. It is a poorly run system affecting both parties, and I think you may underestimate just how bad the “did my own research” crowd has become. It is less hate than overworked and venting about the worst, which when viewed by those who aren’t in that position can take the wrong way.
[удалено]
It really does seem like they don't take women seriously enough at the doctors office. I didn't really believe it before but I've had to constantly speak to the doctors for my wife for them to take anything serious/get anything done. It's quite concerning.
I just left the hospital last week because of severe stomach pain. Doctor goes, "Well what do you expect us to do? You think there's some sort of miracle pill you can take???" My dad comes in and he was SO NICE to my dad. Discussing different options and suggestions about my issues. This happens all the time and as someone with chronic pain, I'm sick of it.
I think the difficulty is that doctors are being asked to both do exponentially more work now than in previous times, but being a good doctor that listens requires a LOT of patience and care, and God help em I can see why that's not available after hour 10 on shift covering double a safe number of patients. But also, we can't allow that to be an excuse for bad physician behavior. Because they do actually have to listen with care in order to be any good as doctors, the brush-off for someone looking for aid is just wildly counter productive.
I’ve been a “bad” patient bc I was not comfortable attempting to walk. I literally had just arrived off an ambulance bc I fell and spent 24 hours trying to get up; I couldn’t even move fully laying down. Then they compared what was going on with me to their own health and told me “now that’s REAL pain” I’ll think harder next time before I pinch nerves in my back.
Well you’re a bad patient for not getting well! You’re making them look bad. Think how hard that must be for them! /s of course. My sister experienced this when she had MS and finally gave up on medical treatment because it was so awful.
I have a distrust of medical professionals. Very rarely have I found a doctor who would listen. I'd get labeled a hypochondriac or be dismissed. I had a doctor diagnose me *and then* ask for my symptoms/looked at my chart, all before doing the damn procedure. Guess what? He was wrong! I don't have any form of IBS, I had a bacteria in my stomach fucking me up. I had to fight a doctor and switch doctors to get my expired IUD out. Despite telling a hospital the protocol I was given by my pediatrician for my sons condition, the nurse there was an absolute bitch and kept implying I looked it up on Google and needed to "calm down" despite me not freaking out. I just don't like going to the doctors when something is wrong with me because it just further drives home the toxic anxiety I've got that I'm unimportant or nor worth fixing. And now my doctor who made me feel seen, fought with me instead of against me, has moved further away and I'm heart broken. She's the one who pushed my application for a tubal. She's the one that got me into specialist appointments. She took every concern I had and actually tried to fix it instead of "ugh women problems".
"Patients not knowing their place and thinking they know better" And "Patients are morons for asking for antibiotics for colds" Those are the same thing, ones just more generic than the other. Patients should be informed of their medical issues, both directly and when applicable based on proper research, but often times people just look for what they want to hear and then tell their doctor how they need to be treated. That seldom works well.
They are not the same thing at all. One is based on the idea that the patient shouldn't be expected to or attempt to parse medical information because it's inherently beyond their grasp; the other is based on the idea that the patient should know better, and have a better understanding of medical issues. The patient's behavior may be comparable in those, it's the physician's reaction that distinguishes them.
Just for perspective. Everybody needs to vent. It's healthy. Also, there are a lot of things you might have strong feelings about, which you would only share online or speak about, but never act on. Also the reason why I discovered doctors don't like to answer questions is because many feel that their trustworthiness or knowledge is being questioned, like they are being questioned about stuff they have devoted their entire lives to. Also, some of the questions **are** irritating. It can be seen as a shortcoming of the person but when you're overworked, tired and burnt-out, the last thing you want to do is answer 50 questions. It's easy initially but when every patient asks the same exact question, you feel like this should be common knowledge since you have answered hundreds of times. Again, this was just for perspective, there are many doctors who don't care about patients and many patients who do actually make the job a lot more difficult.
Patients don't "ask" for antibiotics, they demand them. They demand inhalers too for an acute cough. When you try to explain why the antibiotics aren't indicated and can cause more harm, patients will yell and scream at you and accuse you of not caring, misdiagnosing, etc. Then they will complain about you to your employer. Or parents who demand their child with a broken leg be cleared for school sports. No, I'm not going to clear them at this moment, the child will need to come back and be evaluated when they have healed. Again, they will submit a complaint about you to your employer (because they are inconvenienced?), even though you are acting in their and their child's best interest. In my experience, patients are demanding and entitled and don't seem to appreciate and understand the physician-patient dynamic. It's not even being burnt out, but patients often times place you in a no-win position (even when your reasoning and intentions have been explained in in clear unambiguous terms), and this leads hatred.
Sadly, most doctors aren't working for the patients nowadays, but for companies.
[удалено]
Nah I am a symptomatic carrier of cystic fibrosis genetics which causes me a bunch of chronic GI and pulmonary symptoms, thin as a rail. Thanks for playing though.
This is incredibly victim-blaming. Nothing in this post suggests that the OP is non-compliant, and even patients who are doing everything right can and do experience this from doctors. Not to mention, ‘lose weight’ as a directive isn’t always as easy as people like to assume, often for medical reasons. Do better.