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That's what I find so frustrating about these comics and the general narrative about medical care and procedures. Anyone who has had to deal with doctors regul

That's what I find so frustrating about these comics and the general narrative about medical care and procedures. Anyone who has had to deal with doctors regularly knows how little they should be trusted. There are those who will diagnose any chronic health issue as anxiety, those that prescribe life-destroying drugs for a scratch, those that dismiss patients with serious medical conditions as drug-seeking or "being whiny". That's only worsened by the widespread arrogance in the profession that makes them speak with unwavering confidence about things there is little certainty about. Good patient care can only be achieved when the family is well informed and ready to get involved and push back. If you go on any disability forum, you'll find hundreds of testimonies to that effect.

eurasiantiger 5y ago
There are loads of psychiatrists who will ask you what you want prescribed. I’m not too sure how they are different from drug dealers.
thayne 5y ago
Reading a few articles on the internet doesn't make you well informed though. Certainly not well informed enough to accurately diagnose medical conditions. It's a doomed if you do, doomed if you don't situation.
- Saptarishi 5y ago
  I think the commenters point was not about people reading articles on the internet and feeling that they've got a better understanding than doctors. It's about medical professionals thinking that they are infallible.
  - thayne 5y ago
    Sure. And I think that that leads to people distrusting doctors, and trusting things they read on the internet.
    - robbedpeter 5y ago
      So despite 12 years of elite education, doctors still prescribe Tylenol, even though current science says it basically does nothing except screw with your liver. Chiropractic is bunk. Audiology is a tool of price gouging hearing aid cartels. Every doctor that played along with the Sackler playbook directly perpetuated the opioid crisis. Optometrists are a front for cartels of glasses and lens manufacturers. Much of what is qualified as medicine is exploitative corporate fuckery. Toxic incentives abound, but god forbid we question the integrity of the system. There's a lot wrong with the institutional role of "doctor" in the US. Part of it is that there aren't enough of them. Part is that the institution is granted a veneer of authority over things it has no claim to (see: psychology.) Part is corporate pharmaceutical corruption and bad incentives. There are many situations where self directed research is going to be much better than what you'll get from a brief visit with an overworked, irritated, often arrogant and egotistical doctor without intimate knowledge of your unique medical situation. It's infuriating to get those half-assed "best guess" diagnoses or prescriptions. I would trust an earnest high schooler with Google over a doctor from, say, 1920, with almost any medical situation except actual surgery, and maybe not then. I trust my own understanding of scientific evidence and research over doctors from 1970 or maybe even later. How much time is needed by modern, educated doctors to exceed the quality of advice gained by self directed, appropriately conducted research, using the best of what the internet has to offer? Obviously the doctor's advice will exceed what the patient can accomplish on their own, given sufficient time. Absent sufficient time, a person spending 4 weeks researching online could, and probably frequently does, exceed the domain specific knowledge and assessment by a doctor making a 5 minute "best effort. " It shouldn't be combative, and doctors should be willing to investigate information brought by patients from legitimate resources. The gap between "civilian" and doctors available information and education is not nearly as great as it once was. Dismissing the situation as "don't believe what you read on the internet" is a shallow and ignorant stance. We have the sum total of human knowledge available to us via Wikipedia, specialist sites, forums, scihub,arxiv, and so on. Everything, including the good stuff, is online. People can and do use rational, scientific thinking to engage with that information, and in that situation, the doctor's 12 years of education only means something if they can spend an appropriate amount of time acquiring evidence and information from the patient. There's not enough of them, so unless a situation is serious and demands immediate attention, doctors often won't be able to provide sufficient time to make their expertise relevant.
Saptarishi 5y ago
In my country we often joke about how hard it is to find that one "perfect" doctor - knows what he's doing and knows about his strengths and weaknesses, isnt too arrogant or unwilling to accept his own doubts on the diagnosis, experienced enough yet doesn't charge too much and whatever is prescribed seems to work magically for you. Once you find someone like that, you're set. Not that one has to blindly follow that person, but it lifts a lot of stress off your head. Edit: I am not from USA

eurasiantiger 5y ago

There are loads of psychiatrists who will ask you what you want prescribed. I’m not too sure how they are different from drug dealers.

thayne 5y ago

Reading a few articles on the internet doesn't make you well informed though. Certainly not well informed enough to accurately diagnose medical conditions. It's a doomed if you do, doomed if you don't situation.

Saptarishi 5y ago
I think the commenters point was not about people reading articles on the internet and feeling that they've got a better understanding than doctors. It's about medical professionals thinking that they are infallible.
- thayne 5y ago
  Sure. And I think that that leads to people distrusting doctors, and trusting things they read on the internet.
  - robbedpeter 5y ago
    So despite 12 years of elite education, doctors still prescribe Tylenol, even though current science says it basically does nothing except screw with your liver. Chiropractic is bunk. Audiology is a tool of price gouging hearing aid cartels. Every doctor that played along with the Sackler playbook directly perpetuated the opioid crisis. Optometrists are a front for cartels of glasses and lens manufacturers. Much of what is qualified as medicine is exploitative corporate fuckery. Toxic incentives abound, but god forbid we question the integrity of the system. There's a lot wrong with the institutional role of "doctor" in the US. Part of it is that there aren't enough of them. Part is that the institution is granted a veneer of authority over things it has no claim to (see: psychology.) Part is corporate pharmaceutical corruption and bad incentives. There are many situations where self directed research is going to be much better than what you'll get from a brief visit with an overworked, irritated, often arrogant and egotistical doctor without intimate knowledge of your unique medical situation. It's infuriating to get those half-assed "best guess" diagnoses or prescriptions. I would trust an earnest high schooler with Google over a doctor from, say, 1920, with almost any medical situation except actual surgery, and maybe not then. I trust my own understanding of scientific evidence and research over doctors from 1970 or maybe even later. How much time is needed by modern, educated doctors to exceed the quality of advice gained by self directed, appropriately conducted research, using the best of what the internet has to offer? Obviously the doctor's advice will exceed what the patient can accomplish on their own, given sufficient time. Absent sufficient time, a person spending 4 weeks researching online could, and probably frequently does, exceed the domain specific knowledge and assessment by a doctor making a 5 minute "best effort. " It shouldn't be combative, and doctors should be willing to investigate information brought by patients from legitimate resources. The gap between "civilian" and doctors available information and education is not nearly as great as it once was. Dismissing the situation as "don't believe what you read on the internet" is a shallow and ignorant stance. We have the sum total of human knowledge available to us via Wikipedia, specialist sites, forums, scihub,arxiv, and so on. Everything, including the good stuff, is online. People can and do use rational, scientific thinking to engage with that information, and in that situation, the doctor's 12 years of education only means something if they can spend an appropriate amount of time acquiring evidence and information from the patient. There's not enough of them, so unless a situation is serious and demands immediate attention, doctors often won't be able to provide sufficient time to make their expertise relevant.

Saptarishi 5y ago

In my country we often joke about how hard it is to find that one "perfect" doctor - knows what he's doing and knows about his strengths and weaknesses, isnt too arrogant or unwilling to accept his own doubts on the diagnosis, experienced enough yet doesn't charge too much and whatever is prescribed seems to work magically for you. Once you find someone like that, you're set. Not that one has to blindly follow that person, but it lifts a lot of stress off your head. Edit: I am not from USA