Health - Resources and discussion for everything health-related

"hi my car is making a noise that sounds exactly like a faulty wheel bearing. I think my wheel bearing is broken."

"No, it's not. You can go now."

I don't see how this analogy makes their arrogant dismissals any better.

They can damn well explain why they disregard some symptoms and why my online diagnosis is unlikely

I find that medical doctors and engineers both commonly suffer from huge superiority complexes and/or narcissistic tendencies (and I say that as someone with an engineering degree). I think a huge part of it is that everyone is constantly fawning over them and telling them how smart they must be to have made it through the schooling that they begin to believe it (combined with the fact that many people conflate academic success with intelligence).

As a chemistry major, I went to undergrad with tons of pre-meds that went on to become medical doctors and then I went to grad school in an engineering department. Believe me, plenty of idiots hold a degree (even an advanced degree) in these areas. Most medical doctors are just mechanics that specialize in troubleshooting one particularly poorly designed device, and many engineers are convinced that because they know how to fix or optimize one problem, they can spend a few days/weeks to learn more than experts in unrelated fields.

As an IT admin that has worked in hospitals, nearly all of the docs I had to deal with couldn't comprehend simple things like capslock making their password not work and the fact that turning off the monitor doesn't shut down the PC.

And I'm reminded of the joke: "What do you call a doctor that graduated at the bottom of their class?"

Doctor...

This is my experience with IBD and drs. I have to explain the disease to them for them to understand so they can make decisions. I don't know why my consultant doesn't just make the decisions instead when he's the expert.

A doctor who can confidently diagnose everything wrong is the worst kind of doctor. Even one who confidently diagnoses a smaller portion of things wrong is dangerous, because they will ignore evidence to the contrary. I'd much rather have one who says, "I think this is what you've got but we're going to test to be sure."

That is true. But it sounds like he had decent evidence?

I agree with the fact that doctors shouldn’t just diagnose everything because someone says that’s what they’ve got.

It's not so much they don't admit they don't know, it's that they tell you nothing is wrong.

I really appreciate that my doctor will regularly admit they aren't 100% sure, and often sends me to specialists and for labwork to eliminate worst case scenarios and run things down.

I'd be more concerned if they just wrote off my concerns and symptoms because they couldn't immediately connect it to anything other than say, stress and lack of sleep.

That said, my relationship with my doctor is probably not the norm due to some lifelong health stuff that keeps me going in every 3 months or so, and I've had the same provider for a good number of years. We've had enough time together for them to know how I approach my symptoms and health.

I'm also privileged that I have decent enough insurance, salary, and job that allows me to go and actually do all that. Most people don't.

Back to the point though:

I totally understand the "just fix it!" mindset, but I feel like anyone who has had to spend a decent amount of time troubleshooting anything should realize that isn't always possible. Especially with things regarding the human body.

How many different things can go wrong with a car, a computer, or a business process, that from the outside all look like the same issue? None of these are realistically comparable to the complexity of a person. You're going to expect someone to just listen to a few minutes of your whining, pat you on the back, and send you off with an 100% reliable solution for an issue with something as mind bogglingly complex as a human body?

You can't just drop your body off at the shop, have a crew of people take their time diagnosing and fixing it, and get it back when they're done. You're going to have to hual that death trap junk heap from place to place yourself to get it in front of the right people first. They might have to call in a guy who's familiar with your specific make and model, or a guy that's experienced with electrical systems.

I dunno, the idea of some sort of "quick result" doctor visit that solves your exact issues and doesn't tell you things you don't want to hear just seems incredibly naive.

Usually that tool is that I'm a woman

That’s how it should be. It’s astonishing to me that some doctors don’t take the chance that the patient might be right

Yeah, you're definitely in the minority.

It's a shame too. A lot of this occurs due to the egos of medical professionals, rather than genuine concern that the patient might be going off the basis of misinformation.

Was also sadly my experience. Got a cut because of a collapse, told them that I have heart failure since a kid and this felt strange, but they never did any tests, just wanted to send me to the psych unit.

That was a pretty fucked evening...

I'm sure you think this and for people with decent insurance it may be true.

Never once have I ever received adequate medical assistance in my entire life.

Hell I was once even sent home with appendicitis AFTER testing confirmed it.

American for-profit medicine is a joke and untold people die from it every year.

Ah yes, the VA, the only institution that has its very own math. 50+50+30+10=70

That’s a good question as sports are ingrained and you can’t take away people’s tribal entertainment without consequences. Panem et circenses and all that.