5 ms·

I would give so much to see doctors who simply "google" things. As someone who works as dev improving data and efficiency in a business.....i hate people who d

by avgDev 5y ago

I would give so much to see doctors who simply "google" things. As someone who works as dev improving data and efficiency in a business.....i hate people who don't just google things. I implemented something a year ago, maybe its time to refresh my knowledge and see if anything has changed? Some doctors are infuriating, using knowledge they gained 10 years ago. Medicine also changes fairly quickly and quick search could really be a great tool. Imagine this, I have seen many physicians (40+) at top hospitals about "mysterious" symptoms due to a reaction to a medication. 3 agreed its possible. The symptoms are listed on the medication label, plus I have been tested for everything else under the sun. I have sent research to my primary physician who has said, I am the first patient to change his mind about a drug. A quick search just listing my vague symptoms would bring up a possible reaction, or just looking at the damn label.

WalterBright 5y ago
There's a lot of medical misinformation online, too.
- cruano 5y ago
  I mean, it's not like they are going to ask wikihow. Updated versions of their books and medical journals, or even a stackoverflow-like platform where they could discuss and read answers would be magnitudes better. Maybe humans memorizing tons of information was the best approach for medicine a century ago, but it's not the case anymore
  - WalterBright 5y ago
    An educated man is not a person filled with facts, but a person who knows where to get particular information he needs.
- gbear605 5y ago
  There are medical databases specifically for things like this (not available to the general public), but doctors often don’t reference them because of false confidence or time pressure.
- avgDev 5y ago
  Someone with an extensive education should be able to decide which information can be considered good. If not, then maybe we should stop testing memorization and focus on ability to solve problems using ALL tools available.
  - ThrowawayR2 5y ago
    > "Someone with an extensive education should be able to decide which information can be considered good." Uh, what is an education other than absorption and integration of information? If they haven't learned (i.e. memorized) a large quantity of information as part of their extensive education to guide them, they have zero chance of "being able to decide which information can be considered good" by definition.
- fooqux 5y ago
  Presumably, doctors would have access to better information than the layperson, and know how to sift through it. I know the person you replied to said "Google", but that's been a fairly overloaded term for decades now. Personally, I would like to see a doctor searching a site made for doctors. Seeing one just do an actual generic online search would not give me much confidence.
  - eitally 5y ago
    One eye opening fact I learned when my family was dealing with a complex medical diagnosis was how specialists have seemingly the entire population of peers on speed dial. If you can help them connect dots to other specialists, they likely have the ability to get in touch with them in near real time. I mean, it may not be 100% reliable, but my new MO is to assume all physicians have a batphone, and to ask them to use it if they need additional opinions & insights.
- Nextgrid 5y ago
  Which is why having an expert sift through it is helpful - he can immediately rule out garbage from stuff that at least looks sane and might warrant further consideration. As engineers we do it all the time (sometimes subconsciously) when searching for technical documentation. Having that skill in other fields would be a godsend, but the next best thing would be to have someone else do it on our behalf.
Zenbit_UX 5y ago
If been in a clinic where after describing my symptoms the doctor opened the computer and typed them into a search engine. I asked her if she was googling it and she said "sort of". She started telling me about a search tool doctor's use which is much more professionally focused than Google (who diagnoses everyone with cancer) and I was very impressed both with her honesty and that this existed. It's been a few years since so I don't remember if it was a windows app or a website but it did have a very 90s looking interface.
- psyc 5y ago
  I had exactly this happen once in a regular MD’s office, but he was reading to me from literally the Wikipedia article on carpal tunnel, on a Chromebook. Actually Wikipedia.
  - yupper32 5y ago
    I've had similar experiences like that; the doctor pulling up articles from common websites. But it wasn't the doctor pulling up the article because they didn't know what was in the article, it was them showing me so I can look it up later and read more if I wanted. Wikipedia seems like a poor choice, though. Maybe carpel tunnel is basic enough for Wikipedia to be fine. I've been shown stuff like Mayo Clinic articles.
- Karunamon 5y ago
  My primary did this. There's a site called UpToDate which Epic apparently has a one click integration with. It's basically medical Google.
otikik 5y ago
I caught a gastrointestinal parasite in one journey to Brazil (I should have avoided the street food!) and I am 90% sure that my Spanish doctor just googled what the hell I had when she got the results of the analysis, right there in front of me. I am not 100% sure because I could not see her screen, but the (in)frequency of mouse clicks was consistent with someone going over google and reading a bunch of pages. And then suddenly she started typing a lot and didn't use the mouse at all - switched to her daily medical app, I presumed. The antibiotics she gave me did the trick. She was young, though.
jnovek 5y ago
I can’t agree with this enough. I deal with daily chronic pain which has rendered me essentially unable to work. My full-time job has been “patient” for almost three years. What I’ve learned is that you have to do their work for them if you want to make progress. Sometimes that means showing up with highlighted printouts of studies that they would never get around to reading if you didn’t deliver them — and follow up on them — personally. Other times that means that means playing dumb and “presenting” (not faking, just highlighting) the right preliminary symptoms to get a key test ordered. I’m lucky in that I have education. I can read a study. I understand probability and statistics. I can learn terminology and use it (somewhat) correctly in a sentence. I often wonder how people without a STEM background get any care at all. Perhaps they don’t? It’s a horrible, broken system that amounts to little more than insurance-mandated gatekeeping.
- eitally 5y ago
  My wife is a nurse who pivoted into pharma, and when our daughter was diagnosed with a heart tumor, the only thing that ultimately resulted in us finding the right case was my wife's experience and ability to 1) ask the right questions, and 2) conduct her own scientific literature search & meta analyses. I kept thinking throughout that, if we weren't able to do this, our daughter would probably die ... and how many millions of patients receive subpar care because they don't have the skills or knowledge to keep care providers (and insurers) honest.

by avgDev 5y ago

WalterBright 5y ago

There's a lot of medical misinformation online, too.

cruano 5y ago
I mean, it's not like they are going to ask wikihow. Updated versions of their books and medical journals, or even a stackoverflow-like platform where they could discuss and read answers would be magnitudes better. Maybe humans memorizing tons of information was the best approach for medicine a century ago, but it's not the case anymore
- WalterBright 5y ago
  An educated man is not a person filled with facts, but a person who knows where to get particular information he needs.
gbear605 5y ago
There are medical databases specifically for things like this (not available to the general public), but doctors often don’t reference them because of false confidence or time pressure.
avgDev 5y ago
Someone with an extensive education should be able to decide which information can be considered good. If not, then maybe we should stop testing memorization and focus on ability to solve problems using ALL tools available.
- ThrowawayR2 5y ago
  > "Someone with an extensive education should be able to decide which information can be considered good." Uh, what is an education other than absorption and integration of information? If they haven't learned (i.e. memorized) a large quantity of information as part of their extensive education to guide them, they have zero chance of "being able to decide which information can be considered good" by definition.
fooqux 5y ago
Presumably, doctors would have access to better information than the layperson, and know how to sift through it. I know the person you replied to said "Google", but that's been a fairly overloaded term for decades now. Personally, I would like to see a doctor searching a site made for doctors. Seeing one just do an actual generic online search would not give me much confidence.
- eitally 5y ago
  One eye opening fact I learned when my family was dealing with a complex medical diagnosis was how specialists have seemingly the entire population of peers on speed dial. If you can help them connect dots to other specialists, they likely have the ability to get in touch with them in near real time. I mean, it may not be 100% reliable, but my new MO is to assume all physicians have a batphone, and to ask them to use it if they need additional opinions & insights.
Nextgrid 5y ago
Which is why having an expert sift through it is helpful - he can immediately rule out garbage from stuff that at least looks sane and might warrant further consideration. As engineers we do it all the time (sometimes subconsciously) when searching for technical documentation. Having that skill in other fields would be a godsend, but the next best thing would be to have someone else do it on our behalf.

Zenbit_UX 5y ago

If been in a clinic where after describing my symptoms the doctor opened the computer and typed them into a search engine. I asked her if she was googling it and she said "sort of". She started telling me about a search tool doctor's use which is much more professionally focused than Google (who diagnoses everyone with cancer) and I was very impressed both with her honesty and that this existed. It's been a few years since so I don't remember if it was a windows app or a website but it did have a very 90s looking interface.

psyc 5y ago
I had exactly this happen once in a regular MD’s office, but he was reading to me from literally the Wikipedia article on carpal tunnel, on a Chromebook. Actually Wikipedia.
- yupper32 5y ago
  I've had similar experiences like that; the doctor pulling up articles from common websites. But it wasn't the doctor pulling up the article because they didn't know what was in the article, it was them showing me so I can look it up later and read more if I wanted. Wikipedia seems like a poor choice, though. Maybe carpel tunnel is basic enough for Wikipedia to be fine. I've been shown stuff like Mayo Clinic articles.
Karunamon 5y ago
My primary did this. There's a site called UpToDate which Epic apparently has a one click integration with. It's basically medical Google.

otikik 5y ago

I caught a gastrointestinal parasite in one journey to Brazil (I should have avoided the street food!) and I am 90% sure that my Spanish doctor just googled what the hell I had when she got the results of the analysis, right there in front of me. I am not 100% sure because I could not see her screen, but the (in)frequency of mouse clicks was consistent with someone going over google and reading a bunch of pages. And then suddenly she started typing a lot and didn't use the mouse at all - switched to her daily medical app, I presumed. The antibiotics she gave me did the trick. She was young, though.

jnovek 5y ago

I can’t agree with this enough. I deal with daily chronic pain which has rendered me essentially unable to work. My full-time job has been “patient” for almost three years. What I’ve learned is that you have to do their work for them if you want to make progress. Sometimes that means showing up with highlighted printouts of studies that they would never get around to reading if you didn’t deliver them — and follow up on them — personally. Other times that means that means playing dumb and “presenting” (not faking, just highlighting) the right preliminary symptoms to get a key test ordered. I’m lucky in that I have education. I can read a study. I understand probability and statistics. I can learn terminology and use it (somewhat) correctly in a sentence. I often wonder how people without a STEM background get any care at all. Perhaps they don’t? It’s a horrible, broken system that amounts to little more than insurance-mandated gatekeeping.

eitally 5y ago
My wife is a nurse who pivoted into pharma, and when our daughter was diagnosed with a heart tumor, the only thing that ultimately resulted in us finding the right case was my wife's experience and ability to 1) ask the right questions, and 2) conduct her own scientific literature search & meta analyses. I kept thinking throughout that, if we weren't able to do this, our daughter would probably die ... and how many millions of patients receive subpar care because they don't have the skills or knowledge to keep care providers (and insurers) honest.