 |
 |
John Cottingham posted your thoughts on our PD listserver and it certainly is a topic that needs to be explored. We, the patients, must be as well educated about our disease as possible and thus have the ability to discuss with our doctors the knowledge we have gained from "surfing the net", or from reading. Ofcourse, that presupposes that the doctor is at least as well informed as we are and is open to our sources of information. I have not found this to be the case with my neurologists. In fact, most of the times when I brought in copies of articles, etc., they were politely filed away in my folder with the remark that "I will read it as soon as I can". It has been my fault that I did not persist and follow up. The patients' attitude must change and "interview" the doctor and not just look at and be impressed with the framed copies of degrees and accolades hanging on the wall. The whole process of the examination and discussion takes place in an in-personal cubicle and the doctor hops beween patients awaiting their turn. I have found that the RN, who takes the blood pressure, weighs you and asks if there are any problems, is much more in tune with the individual. In most cases the RN will make recommendations that the doctor then formalizes with his signature on Rx form. If the assistance of the RN frees up the doctor to do research, all is well and good. My observation is that doctors "catch up" on the new discoveries when the attend their junkets in glamorous and expensive places. Or, they are mostly concerned with and are knowledgable about their particular "research areas" and if your profile does not fit into their hypothesis then their interest wanes. My criticism is aimed at the structure of the medical field and we, as the consumers, have a duty to improve the system. I am planning to go to my next appointment armed with specific questions and in-fact will probably fax them ahead of time to the doctor. Thank you for providing this forum to vent. I apologize for the length of this post. Regards, Margaret Tuchman [log in to unmask]