Thursday, August 20, 2009

Doctor, please don't treat me like an idiot

Many doctors take a very patronising attitude towards their patients. Because they have spent 10 years getting an MD degree ; know lots of Latin terms describing the body's innards ; and are experts in medical trivia, they feel they are smarter than their patients, who will not be able to understand anything about their illness.

This is a shame, because patients can be the best teaching tools for doctors. They are highly motivated; and often have lots of time to dig deep and find out tons of information about their illness.

Smart doctors learn to use their patients as research assistants ( unpaid !) to help them keep abreast of medical advances !

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