3 ms·
Many (most?) doctors work as if their knowledge was exact and exhaustive, and every symptom that's not in the book is binned as psychosomatic or psychiatric, an
by PhantomGremlin 8y ago
Many (most?) doctors work as if their knowledge was exact and exhaustive, and every symptom that's not in the book is binned as psychosomatic or psychiatric, and basically blamed on the patient.
You know this since you have a medical degree, but to inform general readers, here's what takes to become a doctor in the USA[1]:
K-12
4 years college, perhaps pre-med emphasis
4 years medical school
3 to 7 years residency
1 to 4 years fellowship (for specialization)
After all that, they probably do think they know it all. But in reality their knowledge has only scratched the surface.
Perhaps the right answer is even more specialization? Maybe that's where places like the Mayo Clinic come in? Maybe an organization like that is big enough that they can have specialists who can recognize and treat all the rare conditions that are "not in the book"?
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_school#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_school#United_States
- j7ake 8y agoI think the right answer is that doctors should also be required to produce an original piece of research. This will immediately make it clear how limited book knowledge is and how vast the unexplored territory is. Ask many genuine scientists who have been doing research in a field for 30+ years and they can tell you how small the book knowledge is compared to the unexplored territory.
- medntech 8y agoMed student here. The majority of us do research starting from day one of undergrad. It's not uncommon to graduate med school with 5+ publications. It is effective at showing how little we know, but so are the lectures we have everyday that have unknowns in them. We're also taught by "genuine" scientist, people with PhDs, PhD/MD, and MDs on a daily basis about what we don't know.
- theprotocol 8y ago> It is effective at showing how little we know, but so are the lectures we have everyday that have unknowns in them. I really appreciate this being taught, and from what little you wrote, I appreciate the humility shown. Please don't ever become a "big shot" that's too good to talk openly to people who are afraid about their health.
- threeseed 8y agoThey do produce original research during university. And you have a warped view of what Doctors are. They are not Research Scientists. They are not there to try out cutting edge techniques and medicines. They are not there to be the world's foremost knowledge on everything medical. They are there to give you conservative, boring advice vetted by the authorities for specific ailments. Anything more serious they recommend you to see specialists.
- m_fayer 8y agoDoctors in Germany are heavily encouraged to produce a phd thesis during their education. The way that usually plays out: they struggle to do good science while laboring to complete a degree that essentially has them memorize an encyclopedia, and they're used by PIs and postdocs as lab monkeys or scientific errand-boys, helping to chase down someone else's obscure 2nd tier side-theory, all while earning the scorn of their academic colleagues for being pale imitations of actual scientists.
- fouc 8y agoThey are Warrior Doctors