Thanks for the comments. I agree that most of us do know that blindly following doctors orders has led to worse, rather than better, outcomes for some patients. I don't know though if that awareness always translates into proactive patients. Not everyone is able to conduct their own research, for a myriad of reasons. And even when we do conduct our own research and arrive as informed as we can at the doctor's offices, many doctors and other medical professionals have a way of dismissing us with the assumption that we cannot really understand our health with out an MD. Even the best informed of us often leave second-guessing our understanding.
Even among the younger generation, I have a daughter-in-law, very intelligent and well-educated. She is due to give birth this week. She often comments that she could not imagine going to all the trouble I go through to research and understand my or my mother's medical care. With respect to her own birth, her OB has given her a strict date by which she needs to give birth or he'll schedule a c-section. And she is just fine with this, having absolute faith in her OB's counsel, regardless of whether or not his counsel is based largely on his own convenience.
I would also point out that in many cases, our medical specialists have traded in extreme specialization for broader understandings of our bodies and physiology.
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Hi Susan C.,
Thanks for the comments. I agree that most of us do know that blindly following doctors orders has led to worse, rather than better, outcomes for some patients. I don't know though if that awareness always translates into proactive patients. Not everyone is able to conduct their own research, for a myriad of reasons. And even when we do conduct our own research and arrive as informed as we can at the doctor's offices, many doctors and other medical professionals have a way of dismissing us with the assumption that we cannot really understand our health with out an MD. Even the best informed of us often leave second-guessing our understanding.
Even among the younger generation, I have a daughter-in-law, very intelligent and well-educated. She is due to give birth this week. She often comments that she could not imagine going to all the trouble I go through to research and understand my or my mother's medical care. With respect to her own birth, her OB has given her a strict date by which she needs to give birth or he'll schedule a c-section. And she is just fine with this, having absolute faith in her OB's counsel, regardless of whether or not his counsel is based largely on his own convenience.
I would also point out that in many cases, our medical specialists have traded in extreme specialization for broader understandings of our bodies and physiology.
Thanks for writing!
January 27, 2011 - 7:05amSusan
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