MeSci
ME/CFS since 1995; activity level 6?
- Messages
- 8,231
- Location
- Cornwall, UK
I don't usually cite the Daily Mail, but I think that this article provides interesting insights into some difficulties faced by doctors.
I part company with the writer when he starts advocating:
If the patient has clearly come in relation to physical problems, the focus should be on these unless the patient indicates that something psychological is underlying them. I would be tempted to tell a doc to mind his/her own business if s/he started asking about my relationships.
If the doctor is going to ask about diet and sleep s/he should ensure that s/he is in fact up-to-date on the science relating to these, which rarely seems to be the case in my experience.
As for patients being assertive, I think that most UK patients will know that that is pointless with a doctor who thinks that s/he is a god, and will just make him/her angry.
I part company with the writer when he starts advocating:
Medical care should be about delving into patients' lives, listening to their stories and paying close attention to what's said between the lines - how their marriages are going, what's going on in the family and with friends, how their sex life is, what's happening at work, what stresses them, what they eat and drink, if they exercise and if they sleep well.
If the patient has clearly come in relation to physical problems, the focus should be on these unless the patient indicates that something psychological is underlying them. I would be tempted to tell a doc to mind his/her own business if s/he started asking about my relationships.
If the doctor is going to ask about diet and sleep s/he should ensure that s/he is in fact up-to-date on the science relating to these, which rarely seems to be the case in my experience.
As for patients being assertive, I think that most UK patients will know that that is pointless with a doctor who thinks that s/he is a god, and will just make him/her angry.