4 ms·

UpToDate looks great. How are we, as patients, can choose a doctor which has UpToDate and uses it ? And how a patient, which can read the medical literature ,

by petra 5y ago

UpToDate looks great. How are we, as patients, can choose a doctor which has UpToDate and uses it ? And how a patient, which can read the medical literature ,and use Google/Pubmed/Medical books, benefit from a subscription to your system to help validating a doctor's work(because they're human too, they sometimes make mistakes) ?

uslic001 5y ago
Most hospitals provide UpToDate for all providers with privileges at the hospital.
rubatuga 5y ago
A doctor doesn't need Uptodate to manage your run of the mill asthma and diabetes :). Best tip? Do your own research and take it to your GP. Either they appreciate it, or they dismiss it. That's the best way to differentiate between good+bad doctors.
- rscho 5y ago
  As a doctor myself, I can assure you that it's possibly the worst way to differentiate capable from incapable docs. It's a good way to differentiate socially skilled docs from socially inept ones. This I can agree with.
rscho 5y ago
In all honesty and with the best of intentions from an academic doc, I think that trying to validate your doc's work other than from what you think of the result is a bad idea. Modern medicine is actually not that modern and still requires a massive amount of know-how that doesn't show in literary resources. For a trivial example, consider that UpToDate is really only valid for mainland US: an infection will be treated differently in Europe because of different resistance patterns. The list of such examples is infinite. Of course, assessing results only has its limits. You can't know as a patient if you are treated optimally for a cancer that causes no symptom but that may kill you in 5 years. I think the only thing you can do to act positively on that is go to a big center specializing in your pathology. Notice that I say 'center' and not 'professor' or 'reputed specialist'. Modern medicine is a system, not an individual (as brilliant as he/she may be). tl;dr: if you're not happy with the results of your current doc, find another one that suits you better.
- petra 5y ago
  Thank you for the recommendation to go to a specialized medical center. That's the ideal. It's possible in some cases(if you have a big medical issue diagnosed), maybe less possible in others(unexplained symptoms for example that your GP may not consider as important). You. yourself, when someone in your family faces a medical issue outside of your specialty , do you sometimes do research on the subject ? do you talk with the doc about that research ?
  - rscho 5y ago
    No, I don't do research myself on issues that are not my specialty. Either the next step is obvious, or it's beyond my reach. Precisely because I lack the necessary experience and know-how to apply research results to the clinical problem at hand. For my family, I refer them to someone I believe is good because I've seen them in action and judged them to be good from my limited perspective, if possible. Some docs have bigger egos and will do what you say and research and act outside of their specialty for themselves or their family. In my experience, this very often leads to subpar care (and even quite horrifying failures, sometimes). Now, one can of course look things up to discuss them with their doc and learn why said doc chose whichever option they chose. That shows you're interested and your doc will usually happily oblige if he/she is not already overworked and completely burned out. If your doc's answer to that doesn't satisfy you, then maybe it's better to change.

by petra 5y ago

uslic001 5y ago

Most hospitals provide UpToDate for all providers with privileges at the hospital.

rubatuga 5y ago

A doctor doesn't need Uptodate to manage your run of the mill asthma and diabetes :). Best tip? Do your own research and take it to your GP. Either they appreciate it, or they dismiss it. That's the best way to differentiate between good+bad doctors.

rscho 5y ago
As a doctor myself, I can assure you that it's possibly the worst way to differentiate capable from incapable docs. It's a good way to differentiate socially skilled docs from socially inept ones. This I can agree with.

rscho 5y ago

In all honesty and with the best of intentions from an academic doc, I think that trying to validate your doc's work other than from what you think of the result is a bad idea. Modern medicine is actually not that modern and still requires a massive amount of know-how that doesn't show in literary resources. For a trivial example, consider that UpToDate is really only valid for mainland US: an infection will be treated differently in Europe because of different resistance patterns. The list of such examples is infinite. Of course, assessing results only has its limits. You can't know as a patient if you are treated optimally for a cancer that causes no symptom but that may kill you in 5 years. I think the only thing you can do to act positively on that is go to a big center specializing in your pathology. Notice that I say 'center' and not 'professor' or 'reputed specialist'. Modern medicine is a system, not an individual (as brilliant as he/she may be). tl;dr: if you're not happy with the results of your current doc, find another one that suits you better.

petra 5y ago
Thank you for the recommendation to go to a specialized medical center. That's the ideal. It's possible in some cases(if you have a big medical issue diagnosed), maybe less possible in others(unexplained symptoms for example that your GP may not consider as important). You. yourself, when someone in your family faces a medical issue outside of your specialty , do you sometimes do research on the subject ? do you talk with the doc about that research ?
- rscho 5y ago
  No, I don't do research myself on issues that are not my specialty. Either the next step is obvious, or it's beyond my reach. Precisely because I lack the necessary experience and know-how to apply research results to the clinical problem at hand. For my family, I refer them to someone I believe is good because I've seen them in action and judged them to be good from my limited perspective, if possible. Some docs have bigger egos and will do what you say and research and act outside of their specialty for themselves or their family. In my experience, this very often leads to subpar care (and even quite horrifying failures, sometimes). Now, one can of course look things up to discuss them with their doc and learn why said doc chose whichever option they chose. That shows you're interested and your doc will usually happily oblige if he/she is not already overworked and completely burned out. If your doc's answer to that doesn't satisfy you, then maybe it's better to change.