Do you trust your primary care physician?
in Health ·
I happen to have an incredible primary care physician; she was actually one of the top students in her graduating class, so you can imagine the level of competence there. I completely understand where you're coming from.
My previous doctor was the complete opposite, someone who seemed terrified of everything—myself, her patients, even the diseases themselves—and she would hand out referrals to specialists for every little thing just to shift the responsibility off her own shoulders. How many times have you found yourself cycling through specialist appointments for a simple sore throat, or being sent for endless swabs and tests for every minor symptom? If a ten-year-old comes in with inflamed tonsils, you should just prescribe an antibiotic and move on, right? But apparently, that wasn't her style.
What can I really say? I consider myself lucky, though I can't say the same for everyone else. My current doctor is so overbooked now that she isn't even accepting new patients anymore.
As for searching things up online, if I can offer any advice based on my own experience, the only real result is that we end up convincing ourselves we have symptoms and illnesses that aren't actually there. I used to think I was immune to that kind of thing, but it happened to me, and I've since promised myself that I won't spend my time reading about diseases or trying to diagnose my own ailments. If you were truly in danger, you'd know 🙂
My previous doctor was the complete opposite, someone who seemed terrified of everything—myself, her patients, even the diseases themselves—and she would hand out referrals to specialists for every little thing just to shift the responsibility off her own shoulders. How many times have you found yourself cycling through specialist appointments for a simple sore throat, or being sent for endless swabs and tests for every minor symptom? If a ten-year-old comes in with inflamed tonsils, you should just prescribe an antibiotic and move on, right? But apparently, that wasn't her style.
What can I really say? I consider myself lucky, though I can't say the same for everyone else. My current doctor is so overbooked now that she isn't even accepting new patients anymore.
As for searching things up online, if I can offer any advice based on my own experience, the only real result is that we end up convincing ourselves we have symptoms and illnesses that aren't actually there. I used to think I was immune to that kind of thing, but it happened to me, and I've since promised myself that I won't spend my time reading about diseases or trying to diagnose my own ailments. If you were truly in danger, you'd know 🙂