4 ms·

> IMO people actually should "play Internet doctor" and research their symptoms, not to reach any 100% conclusions, but to suggest diagnoses and tests to their

by aulin 5y ago

> IMO people actually should "play Internet doctor" and research their symptoms, not to reach any 100% conclusions, but to suggest diagnoses and tests to their real doctor. I do this regularly, and having a hard sciences background it's usually an educated and well-thought research. Unfortunately some doctor can get quite upset if you dare to suggest a diagnosis, especially if it's an evidently correct one they didn't think about. You really have to be very careful, allude to things, stress key symptoms and try to make them reach the same conclusion without explicitly telling them how to do their job.

dotancohen 5y ago
> some doctor can get quite upset if you dare to suggest a diagnosis A well known idiom is that when the client says he has a problem, he's right. When the client tells you what the cause is, he's wrong. Don't tell the doctor your diagnosis. You didn't go through a decade of medical training. Tell the doctor what you've observed, let him conclude the diagnosis.
- coldtea 5y ago
  >Tell the doctor what you've observed, let him conclude the diagnosis. Lots of anecdotal stories of people doing just that and having doctor after doctor failing them.
  - mordae 5y ago
    Feynman's wife.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
    Indeed. My hypothyroidism was ultimately diagnosed by my mother's work colleague who recognized the (frankly quite textbook) symptoms because her dog had it. Doctors are like everyone else: 90% of them are kinda shit at their job.
- aulin 5y ago
  > When the client tells you what the cause is, he's wrong. using a software analogy, I've seen plenty of bug reports where the reporter did some research on his own that turned out to be determinant in the issue resolution. You have training, inside knowledge of the system that's failing, but you see plenty of issues everyday, cannot dedicate to each one the time they would deserve. The reporter instead is motivated to reach a solution and has plenty of time to research it properly. Discarding a potentially fundamental input just because it comes from someone supposedly untrained would be a shame.

by aulin 5y ago

dotancohen 5y ago

> some doctor can get quite upset if you dare to suggest a diagnosis A well known idiom is that when the client says he has a problem, he's right. When the client tells you what the cause is, he's wrong. Don't tell the doctor your diagnosis. You didn't go through a decade of medical training. Tell the doctor what you've observed, let him conclude the diagnosis.

coldtea 5y ago
>Tell the doctor what you've observed, let him conclude the diagnosis. Lots of anecdotal stories of people doing just that and having doctor after doctor failing them.
- mordae 5y ago
  Feynman's wife.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
  Indeed. My hypothyroidism was ultimately diagnosed by my mother's work colleague who recognized the (frankly quite textbook) symptoms because her dog had it. Doctors are like everyone else: 90% of them are kinda shit at their job.
aulin 5y ago
> When the client tells you what the cause is, he's wrong. using a software analogy, I've seen plenty of bug reports where the reporter did some research on his own that turned out to be determinant in the issue resolution. You have training, inside knowledge of the system that's failing, but you see plenty of issues everyday, cannot dedicate to each one the time they would deserve. The reporter instead is motivated to reach a solution and has plenty of time to research it properly. Discarding a potentially fundamental input just because it comes from someone supposedly untrained would be a shame.