10 replies to this topic

[Rudy]

In the 31 years since my accident I have seen a lot of Doctors & Specialists, & I have not been too impressed with alot of them.Many doctors often seem arrogant and indifferent, and dont make eye contact or they talk to and look at my helper instead of looking at me, his patiant!. In my experience after all these years, I have found that I have had only 5 Doctors who stick out as excellent. These were Doctors who seemed to care & know what they are talking about. But most of the other Doctors that I have seen were not very helpful and I think many are overrated.
My current GP demands to see him in his office even for a simple yes or no answer to a question, this means I have to hire extra time with an attendent to take me on the bus for a fourty minute drive there just so the doctor could answer yes or no & then another fourty minutes back home, in total costing me over one hundred dollars for the attendant, and the spent afternoon, just for 30 seconds in his office. I have also had 2 operations in which the surgeons made mistakes [at least they had the guts to admit it]. First they broke my hip on the operating table, then during bladder surgery they accidently cut an artery. Also my poor father had a heart attack and was in the hospital for 1 week, when the doctor told him that his heart was fine & that he will not need surgery, but 5 days later my father dropped dead from heart failure. Medicine has made some amazing leaps, but there is still so much doctors can't do.

[KeepTheFaith]

What do they call a doctor that graduated at the bottom of his class, from a B rated school? DOCTOR

Not all doctors are created equal and they are human like everyone else. It is well worth the effort to seek out a doctor that you feel comfortable with and who seems qualified to deal with SCI issues. Don't be afraid to ask for second opinions in regards to major medical problems. Follow your instincts when something doesn't seem right. I would get rid of your current GP - I would not put up with that crap!

[guido]

KeepTheFaith, on Jan 5 2010, 05:52 PM, said:

What do they call a doctor that graduated at the bottom of his class, from a B rated school? DOCTOR

Not all doctors are created equal and they are human like everyone else. It is well worth the effort to seek out a doctor that you feel comfortable with and who seems qualified to deal with SCI issues. Don't be afraid to ask for second opinions in regards to major medical problems. Follow your instincts when something doesn't seem right. I would get rid of your current GP - I would not put up with that crap!

I second that.

[edlee]

In answer to the original question,, YES (mostly). But I've met a few that I feel comfortable with,,, well,, two , actually.

Good luck with your upcoming surgery,,
ed

[Tetracyclone]

there are few exceptional people in any category. Also any category holds thee occasional genius. Search for her...

[HiltonP]

My answer, as a South African, is "yes", without doubt, most doctors are overrated . . . for two reasons . . .

1 . . . Here in SA doctors are allowed to bill one in 10 minute intervals, i.e. each appointment is measured in 10 minute slots. The typical charge for each 10 minutes is R300-350. This barely gives one sufficient time to settle and describe one's ailment, let alone undress/dress for an examination. The result is that the doctor never develops a real knowledge of one's condition and circumstances, you are one of literally hundreds of 10 minute slots.

2 . . . GP's here in SA appear to only want to address basic ailments. Anything other than the common cold or flu gets referred to a specialist, who then charges even high rates for even less time. My last visit to a specialist cost me R1064 for less than 5 minutes of his time, followed by another R900 a week later for 3 minutes. He was, what I call, "racking, stacking and packing" his patients, i.e. had one getting undressed for examination, while speaking to another, while a third was getting dressed and billed.

Everyone is entitled to make a good living, but my impression is that doctors have lost sight of their primary goal. I would like to see a greater role for a "nursing sister" type of person in the community, but one who can perscribe basic medication. That would suit me more than a over-qualified doctor with one eye on the clock and another on the billing system.

P.S. . . . My opinion is not based on one or two examples. As someone who has been disabled for over 45 years I have seen my fair share of doctors, specialists, and surgeons. I wouldn't recommend one of them to a friend.

P.P.S. . . . To put the fees into perpective, the social disability pension in SA is R1010 per month.

[dangerousdave]

Without getting drawn into the cost side of things ---
In the UK we have the NHS as good or as bad as opinions vary

I am happy to state that all specialised staff have been excelent
GP's have been ok after a initial education, as to be honest - it's not often they come accross SCI patients

[greybeard]

dangerousdave, on Jan 6 2010, 02:22 PM, said:

GP's have been ok after a initial education, as to be honest - it's not often they come accross SCI patients

At last - someone has stated the key factor that seems to be forever overlooked in complaints here about the medical profession.

How many spinal cord/nerve-root damaged patients do the average GP, district nurse or physiotherapist etc get to routinely treat?

Unless they've had experience in a specialist unit, they cannot possibly be expected to know everything about every possible condition. They need nearly as much educating as the average Joe Public does. It is one of the things that makes Apparelyzed is so useful.

[Angela250153]

Must admit that I feel very lucky with my GP who has been with me since before my SCI started, but even she will admit that by now I know more about my condition than she does.

As for specialists like my neuro surgeon, an incomplete SCI like mine still seems to be a great mystery to them.

Edited by Angela250153, 06 January 2010 - 07:20 PM.

[edlee]

We've had that problem of "timed" appointments, but it hasn't gotten to a unit price, yet.

Something we have done , here, is to license people as Nurse Practitioners, and Physician's assistants. They can only work if a Doctor is on the premises, but they can handle all the routine stuff, as well as prescribing medication.

At the Urology group I go to, they have seven offices, but only one doctor,, but he has 10 NPs or PAs. tho,,, and they all seem to be very good at what they do. He can run a lot of patients through each day,,, at different locations.

The real answer to keeping down medical costs is to have more doctors, NPs, and PAs. Competition tends to lower costs.

I consider myself very fortunate to have had insurance while I worked and Medicare now that I'm retired.
ed

[dangerousdave]

As for specialists like my neuro surgeon, an incomplete SCI like mine still seems to be a great mystery to them

Lets see, 1 orthopedic, 3 Neuro specialist and 1 Proffesor

I recon they are waiting for me to snuff it so they can cut me up into many tiny pieces to find out whats the matter with me. Well not me .. more like why don't I conform to their text books.