What Do Doctors Actually Do?

[LuckyStrike]

You go to your Dr. with symptoms, they either

A) order blood work or
B) send you to a specialist

If they order bloodwork they just read the chart, if X is high, they prescribe Y if X is low they prescribe Z or refer you to a specialist.

I'm not downing what Dr's do, but I am honestly curious as to how it takes 8 years of schooling to get to that point. I don't know any MD's well enough to bring it up in such terms but I know there are a few Docs running around here so figured I'd ask.


Same thing for pharmacists, make good money and I cannot see how difficult the job could possibly be. I understand they are supposed to keep track of conflicting medications and such but I can't imagine there aren't computer programs that can keep track of that. I'm not saying computers can replace pharmacists by any means but I'm saying if someone comes in and gets a prescription, then it is logged in the computer and if they come back in a month and get a different one and mixing the two would kill the person, I would have to think in 2012 there would be a program that would alert you to this fact before the drugs were dispensed.

[letter_factory]

computer programs that can keep track of that.

there isn't. if you want to go about making one, let me know. I'll make you rich.

[Mouse]

I think there are programs that do most of that adverse effect assessment. What you really should be concerned about is that you might go to the doc and without him knowing or looking up the potential adverse effects (or having a program to do it), he/she just hands you out some samples of drugs to get started on. Nobody is checking that.

Also, I agree w Luckystrike, the primary care doctors can't do shit other than run expensive tests. If you have a cold or strep throat or something, maybe they can call you in an antibiotic - if you are lucky. Most of them you can't even get a timely appointment when you have a regular problem. They are there to take blood tests and put people on meds for cholesterol. That's 90% of their job.

[zap]

They practice the art of medicine. :)

[Spectrism]

LOL... I think there is a LITTLE more than that.

Diagnosing an illness can be a little tricky at times. Having a fair understanding of the various body systems and their responses to conditions helps. Misdiagnosing an illness can be deadly.

Don't forget doctors also need to manage paperwork, submit insurance claims, pay malpractice insurance, practice balancing stethoscopes around their necks, take visits from pharmaceutical sales reps, hire pretty nurses, bring common colds & flues home, practice using impressive words, learn to avoid saying what they really think, and pay malpractice insurance.

Oh, I think I forgot to say that they pay taxes and malpractice insurance.

[Cebu_4_2]

I have diagnosed and treated my family many times after the MD's have failed. I have used them as a last ditch attempt on things I have had second thoughts about (life vs death) and they let my son just bleed to almost death. I had another sit with him as I retreated back home to make a tea/brew to stop bleeding and returned and the problem stopped in 15 minutes. MD's and emergency are good for a broken arm period. The medical industry really sucks.

[woodman]

They are the shamans of our society. They mutter incantations in latin, do a dance and give us strange elixirs that will put flight to our demons and ill humours. They also kill many and maim many. If you need an antibiotic they will perform pretty admirably. Even the anti-biotics cause collateral damage. It's all give and take I guess.

[mamboni]

You go to your Dr. with symptoms, they either

A) order blood work or
B) send you to a specialist

If they order bloodwork they just read the chart, if X is high, they prescribe Y if X is low they prescribe Z or refer you to a specialist.

I'm not downing what Dr's do, but I am honestly curious as to how it takes 8 years of schooling to get to that point. I don't know any MD's well enough to bring it up in such terms but I know there are a few Docs running around here so figured I'd ask.


Same thing for pharmacists, make good money and I cannot see how difficult the job could possibly be. I understand they are supposed to keep track of conflicting medications and such but I can't imagine there aren't computer programs that can keep track of that. I'm not saying computers can replace pharmacists by any means but I'm saying if someone comes in and gets a prescription, then it is logged in the computer and if they come back in a month and get a different one and mixing the two would kill the person, I would have to think in 2012 there would be a program that would alert you to this fact before the drugs were dispensed.

We have evolved two extremes in Medicine. One of specialization (i.e. the overpaid ultraspecialists) and the other of generalization (i.e. the overworked and often underpaid general practitioner/family doctor). The latter is only useful for the common ailments. Because of insurance company pressures to meet patient quotas, and inducements from big pharms, patient care has evolved from case diagnosis and whole-person care to symptom-dispense-drug paradigm. There is literally a drug for almost every symptom. Those patients who are unusual or atypical are referred to the specialist. Because the specialist has become so refined and narrow in his thinking and training, the patient's cure is more dependent on the generalist selecting the correct specialist than the skill of any given specialist. If the underlying problem is autoimmune disease, and the patient is referred to general surgeon, he could very well undergo surgery before the autoimmune disorder is discovered.

My wife has been helping a beautiful young unmarried single mom with a beautiful new baby. This mom developed a skin "sore" for the third time in several weeks. My wife took her to our hospital's free clinic where she was diagnosed with "cellulitis" and prescribed oral Keflex. I listened to the entire story, asked a few questions about mom and her symptoms, then told my wife that the diagnosis is wrong and mom shouldn't be exposed to broad spectrum antibiotics. I then apologized as I had no business second guessing the doctor when I hadn't seen the patient first had. I asked if she had a photo of the skin lesion. My wife texted mom who replied with a cell phone photo which my wife presented to me literally minutes later. I looked at it and instantly knew the diagnosis was not cellulitis: "This is ringworm. It's caused by a fungus. The best treatment is topical antifungal though topical steroids work well. People who have a diet deficient in B-complex vitamins are especially prone to this." My wife, skeptical of her non-dermatologist husband's opinion, did a google search for ringworm and a few minutes later proclaimed: "Yep! That's exactly what it is!"

[hoarder]

Doctors are not trained to diagnose, they are trained to prescribe.

Modern medicine is not designed to cure, it is designed to make symptoms disappear.

So rather than diagnose and cure what ails you, you go in for a "visit" and they prescibe "treatment".

[Hatha Sunahara]

LS, you ask a simple but profound question. I asked myself the same question, but it came out as 'Why go to a doctor?' And it comes up every time something ails me. Sometimes the question comes up out of the blue. For example, I was reading a book by Eustace Mullins about the Federal Reserve, and discovered that Mullins wrote a book about the way medicine is practiced in the USA. It's called Murder by Injection. I found a copy at a used book store and read it. This book opened up a whole new way of looking at medicine for me. In it, he describes the influence of the Rockefellers on the practice of medicine in the US--and their goal of making their investments in pharmaceutical companies profitable. He talks of the American Medical Association, and the corrupt influence of Morris Fishbein who headed that organization for decades. He talks about the dominance of Allopathic medicine, and the monopoly this paradigm has on the profession at the expense of all other approaches to medicine. I think your question about what doctors do would be answered to your satisfaction if you read this book.

My own approach to that question is that doctors do whatever they are taught to do in their medical education. It doesn't change the bottom line fact that when you have an illness, your body has natural defenses--called your immune system. Your immune system covers about 90% of your need for a doctor. The other 10% of your need for a doctor can me met by using your brain and discovering what cultural practices are healthy and not healthy. If you rely on your immune system and avoid unhealthy cultural practices--like eating large amounts of sugar, and being a couch potato, your need for a doctor will be reduced by a huge amount. Doctors are good in helping your body recover from physical damage--like broken bones and gunshot wounds. Diseases however are best prevented by healthy lifestyles because doctors are taught to do things that maximize profits for medical related businesses--hence the heavy use of laboratory tests, prescription drugs, and lots of unnecessary surgical procedures. Doctors are an integral part of the medical-industrial complex. I follow the advice of Dr. Hulda Clark who tells me that all diseases are caused by poisons and parasites. So I avoid poisons, and find ways to deal with parasites--including the human kind as well.


Hatha

[Book]

Modern medicine is not designed to cure, it is designed to make symptoms disappear.



http://newfunny.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/House-Group1.jpg

Watching teevee causes these so-called "symptoms".




::) every other teevee commercial is for some new drug that has serious side-effects

[Cebu_4_2]

Basically they dont do shit.

[osoab]

I don't like most docs.

Here are a few things I have experienced over the years.

I had to go in for a routine exam after taking myself to the emergency room for a sever allergic reaction.
She one hand me some Clarinex (http://www.webmd.com/drugs/mono-5324-DESLORATADINE+-+ORAL.aspx?drugid=22326&drugname=clarinex+oral) samplers. I asked what are these for. She said, and I quote, "Take them, you'll like it."
I was playing stupid, and new what she was handing me. I threw them away. I was well past the point of any issues with the reaction.
The benadryl shot at the hospital was all I needed. What really pissed me off, was why she didn't ask what I was doing when the reaction started.

I got left in an exam room for over an hour for only a routine ocmed check up. I was one of the first appointments of the day. No clocks in the room, and my cell phone couldn't pick up a signal in the bowels in that area of the hospital. I fell asleep, and decided to walk out when I woke up.
I gave them an earful about wasting my time and my bosses time and money. Such dumbshits. Somehow, they never forgot for the remainder of the visits I had to make. It must have been tough for them.

[milehi]

I work in a orthopedic operating room. Daily, I see people relieved of pain with life changing operations. From what I see, I do my best to keep myself healthy holistically because the last thing I want is someone cutting on me.

[Son-of-Liberty]

The standard of care is total crap. They do a good job of fixing mechanical damage like broken bones and critical care for example allergic reactions, poisoning, or heart attacks. But if you are dealing with a chronic condition it is probably best to stay as far away form doctors as possible.

Other then a rib injury I sustained while sparring in MMA and falling off a 2 story roof and getting banged up I haven't been to a doctor for anything in probably 8 years. Both were terrible experiences. In the future unless it is something that won't heal itself like a compound fracture I won't even bother going for injuries.

In the first case I tore some cartilage and muscle in my ribs. I didn't know exactly what happened. I thought maybe a broken rib. One of my ribs was pushed forward making a half inch bump on my stomach. It was obvious that something wasn't in the right place. Went to emergency and the DB doctor didn't do anything for me. He even told me that many people have ribs that look different on one side then the other like I didn't know what my ribs looked like before I got hurt. I requested an x-ray because I wanted to know if I had a broken rib. He wouldn't send me for one because he said that even if I had a broken rib they wouldn't be able to do anything for me. Although he did try to write me a prescription for pain killers which I declined. I ended up going to my chiropractor who sent me for an x-ray. It took me about a month to where I was able to actually move around without being in much pain and I would say that it was 6 months before my side felt normal.

In the second case I am not going to get into the details too much but I was a roofer at the time and was being a dumb ass. I ended up falling off a second story roof. I fell about 8 feet landed on my back on the garage then rolled off and fell another 12 feet and landed on my side. Luckily for me where I fell the ground was sod so it had some give. After getting up I didn't feel too bad but was scraped to shit and had a hematoma on my right elbow. I took several Advil and drove myself to the hospital. At this point I was concerned that I might be badly injured but due to the adrenaline just wasn't feeling it. So i get to emergency and I am leaking blood on the floor from my elbow. The receptionist asks some questions about what happened, put a little gauze on my elbow to prevent anymore bleeding, I fill out some forms and then sit and wait for 2 hours. By this time I am getting pissed as I appear to be the only one in there other then a young woman in a wheel chair who looks near death that is actually hurt. Everyone else looks fine. You would think that someone falling 2 stories would perhaps warrant more immediate attention, in case of possible internal injury or something but I guess they weren't too concerned about that.

Finally I get called and I am thinking, "good I can see a doctor now." Well I walk through the door and there is another waiting room and I am 5th or 6th in line. I nurse asks me a few more questions and tries to give me a tetanus shot which I decline. Sitting there another 10-15 minutes and I see them wheel in 3 people on gurneys who had probably been in a car accident or something. So that is going to tie up the doctors for a bit. By now I am feeling a little better, the pain is subsiding a bit. I check my arm and it feels like I can move it through a full range of motion without too much aggravation. I was thinking "fuck it! what are they going to do if there is a fracture or something? Put me in a cast? I won't be able to work." So I walked out of there. Went home, cleaned up, dressed the elbow, put some antibacterial cream on all the scrapes and went to bed. Was back at work the next day. I still have some calcification on the elbow but it works fine.

Fucking doctors are useless.

[Large Sarge]

my own thoughts observations
most doctors are good people, trapped in a bad system...

they are so afraid of lawsuits, they must document everything three times, and follow protocols (no free thought allowed)

the insurance company largely dictates what medicines/ treatments will be paid for, so they set a lot of the ground rules

and lastly,

just look up the flexner brothers, big time zionist jews.

one flexner brother took on the school system of America (destroyed it)

one flexner brother took on the medical system (and for the most part destroyed it)

and the last flexner brother, well he helped to form Israel, and he destroyed some other segment of society, cannot remember what off hand...

[Shami-Amourae]

They are useful idiots who write permission slips so you can overspend for something that will make you sicker or simply kill you.

[hoarder]

my own thoughts observations
most doctors are good people, trapped in a bad system.....I agree. To give some credit where it is due, They cure acute problems with much better success than chronic problems. If I were run over by a concrete truck or mauled by a bear, I would let them patch me up. For cancer, chronic back problems or diabetes, I would avoid them.

[Serpo]

Basically obey drug companies

[willie pete]

not all docs are equal...to borrow a phrase "some are more equal than others" .....some are much better diagnosticans than others, but yea, if I'm sick or hurt, I go to a doc....I've seen some remarkable things meds can do

[steyr_m]

We have evolved two extremes in Medicine. One of specialization (i.e. the overpaid ultraspecialists) and the other of generalization (i.e. the overworked and often underpaid general practitioner/family doctor). The latter is only useful for the common ailments. Because of insurance company pressures to meet patient quotas, and inducements from big pharms, patient care has evolved from case diagnosis and whole-person care to symptom-dispense-drug paradigm. There is literally a drug for almost every symptom. Those patients who are unusual or atypical are referred to the specialist. Because the specialist has become so refined and narrow in his thinking and training, the patient's cure is more dependent on the generalist selecting the correct specialist than the skill of any given specialist. If the underlying problem is autoimmune disease, and the patient is referred to general surgeon, he could very well undergo surgery before the autoimmune disorder is discovered.


Thank you for your excellent response. I understand the medical-industrial complex a bit better now.

I feel that most Important way to cure most of modern man's ails are from proper diet and nutrition.

[lapis]

My wife has been helping a beautiful young unmarried single mom with a beautiful new baby. This mom developed a skin "sore" for the third time in several weeks. My wife took her to our hospital's free clinic where she was diagnosed with "cellulitis" and prescribed oral Keflex. I listened to the entire story, asked a few questions about mom and her symptoms, then told my wife that the diagnosis is wrong and mom shouldn't be exposed to broad spectrum antibiotics. I then apologized as I had no business second guessing the doctor when I hadn't seen the patient first had. I asked if she had a photo of the skin lesion. My wife texted mom who replied with a cell phone photo which my wife presented to me literally minutes later. I looked at it and instantly knew the diagnosis was not cellulitis: "This is ringworm. It's caused by a fungus. The best treatment is topical antifungal though topical steroids work well. People who have a diet deficient in B-complex vitamins are especially prone to this." My wife, skeptical of her non-dermatologist husband's opinion, did a google search for ringworm and a few minutes later proclaimed: "Yep! That's exactly what it is!"

That's an excellent anecdote! But it makes me feel sorry for all the people who have to go to a free clinic rather than a good doctor. And good doctors like you are few and far between, I'm afraid!

[Blink]

I feel doctors today do have a "limited" use. If I break, slash or have a bad crash, they are the gods that put me back together. But, when it comes to cures and the book of pharmacy appears, I'd rather work on that myself.........