tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202241003290273966.post408972093079903655..comments2023-10-29T03:17:06.908-07:00Comments on Anonymous Doc: Anon MDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02132292623854780366noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202241003290273966.post-34164333762694409982012-06-19T06:53:05.809-07:002012-06-19T06:53:05.809-07:00Last line of your post. Read it again.
And THAT ...Last line of your post. Read it again. <br /><br />And THAT is why there is a problem today. Because every doc doesn't know every thing. You aren't a specialist in me. <br /><br />I have the time and motivation to become a specialist in me.<br /><br />-AAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202241003290273966.post-89354515737425153012011-12-22T13:21:37.622-08:002011-12-22T13:21:37.622-08:00...and what happens when you only have access to t......and what happens when you only have access to the worst of the worst? The sickest among us in the country typically get Medicaid or Medicare, and the doctors accepting those plans are bogged down, overworked and underpaid-- and generally not the best of the best, because the best of the best are making big bucks from higher-paying plans or cherry picking their patients. <br /><br />the system *is* broken, and i say that as a scientist, a patient advocate, and as a person whose health has been made worse by doctors practicing bad medicine-- but "just find a better doctor" is difficult when better doctors are in short supply-- if a patient is even lucky enough to be able to access one.Jenniferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07263682187241382932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202241003290273966.post-14007269490872018432011-10-05T13:57:31.979-07:002011-10-05T13:57:31.979-07:00While your post was both interesting and well writ...While your post was both interesting and well written, I, like most of the other commenters, have no idea HOW to choose the best doctor. And if you, or anyone else, can't explain it so that a lay person, like myself, can understand how to obtain such information, AND be able to easily access and understand such information, then your argument is moot.<br /><br />But we can both probably agree that the system needs some (or a lot of?) work.kenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15341471126465427610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202241003290273966.post-37416651397570637062011-10-05T12:40:22.709-07:002011-10-05T12:40:22.709-07:00This was very interesting. I always check to see w...This was very interesting. I always check to see where my doctors went to school, and I've wondered if I was being a bit of a snob to favor doctors with "name brand" training. I'm also stymied by the fact that many of my doctors went to medical school in their native countries (e.g., Iran, India, China), and I have zero sense of which schools are good in those countries. Some of them retrained after they came to the United States---does the fact that they've done TWO MDs and TWO residencies make them even better?<br /><br />I have a fairly academic background myself, and I know which schools have good programs in the humanities, but I don't know if that means that a medical school associated with a university known for excellence in, say, literature is also considered good. <br /><br />And it gets more complicated as I investigate later phases of training. I really don't know which hospitals have better residencies (does bigger = better?), and when it comes to fellowship training, I know nothing at all. In the non-medical world, there just isn't a lot of gossip about which gastroenterology or surgical oncology fellowship programs are superior!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202241003290273966.post-6658428883130245852011-10-05T11:16:34.615-07:002011-10-05T11:16:34.615-07:00"People don't ask where their doctor went..."People don't ask where their doctor went to school, did their residency, what hospitals they're affiliated with, how many patients with similar conditions they treat, and whether they have a financial incentive to push whatever treatment they're pushing."<br /><br />People don't know what medical schools are good, what residencies are hard, and how many patients with similar conditions is not enough/enough/a lot. Or whether the financial incentive actually conflicts with their best interest.<br /><br />You want people to know these things, have it be part of mandatory health class in high school. I'm applying to medical schools in less than a year and I still can only tell you the relative merits of about ten of them.kristophinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09362872786928716982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202241003290273966.post-37632611916262855152011-10-05T03:06:16.257-07:002011-10-05T03:06:16.257-07:00I think you make some very salient points. This se...I think you make some very salient points. This seems to be part of the greater picture of scientifically and medically illiterate politicians and insurance companies trying to push responsibility off on the patient in order to save money so they can pay themselves better. The whole idea of medicine as a "free market" is so entirely silly, because when I need a pair of shoes, I'm pretty competent to find some that look nice, and that fit, at a price I can afford, and if I can't find a pair, I can skip it and try again later. None of this applies to medical care whatsoever at all. Medicine is just not a "shop and choose" endeavor. And when my blood sugar is 500 and I can barely stay awake, it's not the time to be considering whether you can give me a cheaper treatment. Just save my life, please.Nataliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06909597803703850020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202241003290273966.post-43066264700462314012011-10-04T23:01:14.480-07:002011-10-04T23:01:14.480-07:00You make it very clear why one should get a better...You make it very clear why one should get a better doctor, but exactly HOW does one do that?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202241003290273966.post-24450591714641732302011-10-04T11:42:36.513-07:002011-10-04T11:42:36.513-07:00Isn't that the real question, though? How are...Isn't that the real question, though? How are you supposed to know as a patient, then, how competent your doctor is? If you start out assuming you know more, you'll either bully the overtreating ones into treating you less, or you'll end up bullying a competent doctor (who you did not recognize as such) into treating you too little. <br />I personally think the diploma is a lousy way, not because I didn't go to Harvard (my school is top 1/3 according to US News, not the best, but certainly not the worst, but should we even trust that?), but given the broad spectrum of competency and talent within my class, I would be very hesitant to use just the diploma as the judge.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202241003290273966.post-74486774074220727122011-10-04T11:30:43.585-07:002011-10-04T11:30:43.585-07:00Hmm, coming from the UK, this whole 'choose/ch...Hmm, coming from the UK, this whole 'choose/change a doctor' thing seems a bit surreal! If I'm sick, I go to my doctor (who I get to register with because he's the nearest to my home), I get to choose which of the doctors in the practice I see, but it tends to depend on who is available. If I get referred to a specialist (or his team) I have no idea who I will see, except I know I had better move heaven and earth to be there for that appointment, or I may have to wait 2, 6, 18 months for another appointment. On the plus side, it's free and they do tend to deal with urgent stuff pretty fast. I'm not sure that the idea of choice is so good - I'm not a doctor - who am I to judge which doctor is best based on my friends/ the newspaper's recommendation?Flossynoreply@blogger.com