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Most professionals in the field of medicine were educated towards an elitist and dogmatic mindset. When I talk with a physician about the human body I always ge

Most professionals in the field of medicine were educated towards an elitist and dogmatic mindset. When I talk with a physician about the human body I always get the impression they really believe the body works as described in the books - exactly like that. Most of them didn't seem to have noticed or learned that what we know about medicine is just theory approximating reality and all of those theories had to be updated sooner or later - always.

MyNameHere 9y ago
Medical doctors are not Ph.D.'s. They are technicians, more akin to an auto mechanic than a scientist.
- scrumper 9y ago
  (I get the point you're making, but many, at least in the UK, are also dual qualified: Ph.D's as well as MDs.)
- grandalf 9y ago
  > more akin to an auto mechanic than a scientist Keep in mind that society has chosen to have physicians carry social and often moral authority. They are the modern priests and priestesses of our secular world. What stings when a physician is impatient or misses something obvious is the disrespect people feel because of the physician's venerated status. It's as if a person of faith is visiting a Bishop and the Bishop mutters a profanity during the blessing. The irritation and accusations of arrogance toward physicians that are found in this thread are (if read carefully) reflections of the unique, clergy-like role that physicians play. A physician's opinion can get you decades of workers comp or can deny it to you, it can make you feel responsible for a health problem or vindicated, it can result in the removal of pain or the continuation of it. Physicians let some people get high every day on any number of drugs, declare others bad surgical candidates, and instill (or withhold) hope in those whose life hangs in the balance. It's a deeply moral role, and the trend toward free healthcare for all is analogous to publishing the bible in languages besides Latin. Physicians are gatekeepers to redemption and this makes some people very angry.
- karmajunkie 9y ago
  I make the same analogy all the time, but I'm reminded of an old joke[1]: A mechanic was removing a cylinder-head from the motor of a Harley motorcycle when he spotted a well-known cardiologist in his shop. The cardiologist was there waiting for the service manager to come and take a look at his bike when the mechanic shouted across the garage. "Hey, Doc, want to take a look at this?" The cardiologist, a bit surprised, walked over to where the mechanic was working on the motorcycle. The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, "So Doc, look at this engine. I open its' heart, take the valves out, repair any damage, and then put them back in, and when I finish, it works just like new. So how come I make $39,675 a year and you get the really big bucks ($1,695,759) when you and I are doing basically the same work?" The cardiologist paused, smiled and leaned over, then whispered to the mechanic..... "Try doing it with the engine running." [1] Found a better version than the one I was screwing up in the retelling at https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/983804-joke-harley-mechanic-heart-surgeon/ https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/983804-joke-harley-mechan...
autokad 9y ago
one time i got a sore throat and fevor, the fevor wouldnt break for 7 days. the entire time i could feel the spot where my sickness was coming from. i looked in a mirror and there were puss modules - classic strep throat. I go to the doctor, she does the strep test and it comes back negative, she refuses to prescribe me antibiotics and told me to just go home and rest. luckily, i had a penicillin script that I didnt finish, and after the first pill the sore throat (and the fever) broke within hours. later when talking to my brother (who is a doctor), he told me the problem, one that he had also. When he gave the step test, it came back negative even when he knew it was positive. an older attending told him that you have to really get it in there, rub it around for a long time in order for it to work, where most just do a quick swipe. another such example was someone came to the ER with chest pain. they didnt detect anything in the blood test so they were going to send him home. my brother refused and ordered more tests. turns out he was in the middle of having a heart attack when they were going to send him home, because ... the test. the moral to the story is, many doctors blindly rely on tests and whats in the book, and disregard contradicting evidence.
- logfromblammo 9y ago
  Your doc just did the physician equivalent of "closed, cannot reproduce". Also, shame on you for not finishing your antibiotic prescription. Always finish your antibiotic! If you don't finish, you run the risk of a resurgence of the infection, except this time with bacteria resistant to the antibiotic you failed to finish. If you really feel like you need a private stash of antibiotic, buy amoxicillin for aquarium fish instead of saving portions of old prescriptions. And make sure you weigh yourself and appropriately calculate the mg/kg dosage before using it. (I understand that this is hypocritical to shame someone for not finishing a prescription antibiotic and also to recommend misuse of veterinary antibiotics.)
  - zimpenfish 9y ago
    > Always finish your antibiotic! Opinions differ: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jul/26/rule-patients-must-finish-antibiotics-course-wrong-study-says https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jul/26/rule-patient...

MyNameHere 9y ago

Medical doctors are not Ph.D.'s. They are technicians, more akin to an auto mechanic than a scientist.

scrumper 9y ago
(I get the point you're making, but many, at least in the UK, are also dual qualified: Ph.D's as well as MDs.)
grandalf 9y ago
> more akin to an auto mechanic than a scientist Keep in mind that society has chosen to have physicians carry social and often moral authority. They are the modern priests and priestesses of our secular world. What stings when a physician is impatient or misses something obvious is the disrespect people feel because of the physician's venerated status. It's as if a person of faith is visiting a Bishop and the Bishop mutters a profanity during the blessing. The irritation and accusations of arrogance toward physicians that are found in this thread are (if read carefully) reflections of the unique, clergy-like role that physicians play. A physician's opinion can get you decades of workers comp or can deny it to you, it can make you feel responsible for a health problem or vindicated, it can result in the removal of pain or the continuation of it. Physicians let some people get high every day on any number of drugs, declare others bad surgical candidates, and instill (or withhold) hope in those whose life hangs in the balance. It's a deeply moral role, and the trend toward free healthcare for all is analogous to publishing the bible in languages besides Latin. Physicians are gatekeepers to redemption and this makes some people very angry.
karmajunkie 9y ago
I make the same analogy all the time, but I'm reminded of an old joke[1]: A mechanic was removing a cylinder-head from the motor of a Harley motorcycle when he spotted a well-known cardiologist in his shop. The cardiologist was there waiting for the service manager to come and take a look at his bike when the mechanic shouted across the garage. "Hey, Doc, want to take a look at this?" The cardiologist, a bit surprised, walked over to where the mechanic was working on the motorcycle. The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, "So Doc, look at this engine. I open its' heart, take the valves out, repair any damage, and then put them back in, and when I finish, it works just like new. So how come I make $39,675 a year and you get the really big bucks ($1,695,759) when you and I are doing basically the same work?" The cardiologist paused, smiled and leaned over, then whispered to the mechanic..... "Try doing it with the engine running." [1] Found a better version than the one I was screwing up in the retelling at https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/983804-joke-harley-mechanic-heart-surgeon/ https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/983804-joke-harley-mechan...

autokad 9y ago

one time i got a sore throat and fevor, the fevor wouldnt break for 7 days. the entire time i could feel the spot where my sickness was coming from. i looked in a mirror and there were puss modules - classic strep throat. I go to the doctor, she does the strep test and it comes back negative, she refuses to prescribe me antibiotics and told me to just go home and rest. luckily, i had a penicillin script that I didnt finish, and after the first pill the sore throat (and the fever) broke within hours. later when talking to my brother (who is a doctor), he told me the problem, one that he had also. When he gave the step test, it came back negative even when he knew it was positive. an older attending told him that you have to really get it in there, rub it around for a long time in order for it to work, where most just do a quick swipe. another such example was someone came to the ER with chest pain. they didnt detect anything in the blood test so they were going to send him home. my brother refused and ordered more tests. turns out he was in the middle of having a heart attack when they were going to send him home, because ... the test. the moral to the story is, many doctors blindly rely on tests and whats in the book, and disregard contradicting evidence.

logfromblammo 9y ago
Your doc just did the physician equivalent of "closed, cannot reproduce". Also, shame on you for not finishing your antibiotic prescription. Always finish your antibiotic! If you don't finish, you run the risk of a resurgence of the infection, except this time with bacteria resistant to the antibiotic you failed to finish. If you really feel like you need a private stash of antibiotic, buy amoxicillin for aquarium fish instead of saving portions of old prescriptions. And make sure you weigh yourself and appropriately calculate the mg/kg dosage before using it. (I understand that this is hypocritical to shame someone for not finishing a prescription antibiotic and also to recommend misuse of veterinary antibiotics.)
- zimpenfish 9y ago
  > Always finish your antibiotic! Opinions differ: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jul/26/rule-patients-must-finish-antibiotics-course-wrong-study-says https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jul/26/rule-patient...