A doctor is never a person you really want to see.
Attending doctor's appointments can be an anxiety-inducing experience for many of us.
Even if it's just a run-of-the-mill check-up, no one really wants to be there.
So why should people in the medical field feel any different than the rest of us?
After all, doctors make the worst patients.
Redditor Still-Tangerine2782 wanted to hear from all the healthcare workers out there.
"Doctors of reddit, what’s it like when you go in for a doctors appointment? Do you and your doctor discuss what’s wrong with you like it’s a group project? Do you not go at all because you’re your own doctor?"
Sounds like it's time for the medics to take their own medicine.
The Community
Doctor GIFGiphy"My mom's a GP and she usually just self diagnoses most of the time but will sometimes get a second opinion. She doesn't really go to another doctor, just calls them to ask about stuff. Her contacts are filled with all kinds of doctors. It's like a secret underground community. For stuff like getting ultrasounds etc, then yes they do discuss stuff like it's a group project."
JustChard
The Internal Monologue...
"I was at a lecture a couple of years ago, performed by two doctors who’d undergone treatment for breast cancer and written a book about it together. I remember her talking about her diagnosis. She was a breast cancer surgeon herself, you couldn’t make it up."
"She walked into the room, saw her own scans with the doctor and her heart dropped, she barely heard a word he said because she couldn’t stop the flood of information she was getting. Looking at the scan she knew if she’d need surgery, chemo, radiotherapy, how long it would be, what her estimated survival was."
"I don’t think they discussed it like a group project, but I suppose she couldn’t stop herself from listening to her own internal monologue since it was her own field. I remember her saying she’d found it, in hindsight, an incredible learning opportunity regarding how to interact with patients, and that she thought about it a lot."
Pain_Free_Politics
Specialties...
"It depends on what I'm going in for. As a background, I'm an oncologist so I've trained in internal medicine before. For most internal medicine type stuff, I don't bother going in unless I need something that I can't easily get for myself (e.g. labs or images). For specialty stuff I wasn't trained in, I go in and try to give them the best history I can, but let them do their own thing."
alkahdia
30 seconds flat...
"I don't get involved in the management. I let the Doctor seeing me lead that, unless they missed something huge and i would just double check. The main difference is i can present the whole history and relevant info in about 30 seconds flat and the doctor with that info can just give me the management plan in about the same time. Fastest consultations ever. Very methodical."
triple_threattt
I Stay Away
"Doctor here. In general, we are not good about going to the doctor."
"For me it’s physicals about half as often as recommended and that time I had strep a year and a half ago that didn’t resolve with 'whatever antibiotics I had in my medicine cabinet.' When we do go in, it is like a group project. We usually hash things out together but ultimately I am going to defer to someone with more expertise than me in that area who can make an objective decision."
nellyann
In general, none of us are good about the doctor. So I feel ya.
New Bits
Chicago Med Episode 6 GIF by NBCGiphy"I was sat in in a consultation between two doctors with one needing an ultrasound. They knew each other through work already so it was very friendly and casual between the both of them. The patient doctor trying to figure out what was going on on the ultrasound screen and the doctor doctor was teaching him the bits he didn't know."
kr4kenz
Language
"Doctor here (neurologist)." I'm not good at going to the doctor. I don't go often but when I do I usually just STFU, especially if it's a field of medicine I have no idea about (like say... derm). That being said, the doctor usually knows I'm a physician as well, and so the language terms to be more technical. I also find that we practice less defensively with each other since we can be more open ('We could do ABC tests but honestly what you probably have is X so take this and if it doesn't get better then we can do ABC')."
Telamir
Participation
"I hope you get some doctors in here to give personal answers. Paul Kalanithi did address this a bit in his book When Breath Becomes Air. At first in his cancer treatment he was very involved in the decision making and the way he described the conversation with his oncologist was more like a collaboration."
"Later, she reminded him that he didn't have to participate in the decision making and that he could just let her be the doctor and focus on himself. He ended up taking her up on this offer. So even between the same patient and doctor, the relationship varied."
aaoch1
generic conditions...
"Dr here - it is a bit dependent on the field of medicine involved. For example I don't know much about neurological issues so if I went to see a neurologist I certainly wouldn't be chipping in. For more generic conditions I have previously offered my thoughts to my doctor about what it could be. Ultimately I still go to the doctor as they can prescribe drugs/order tests for me that would be difficult/questionable for me to do myself."
drbigmac69
Strangers
Sunglasses Hiding GIF by Soul TrainGiphy"I always go to someone who don’t know me, and I wouldn’t say that I’m a doctor as well. On the other hand, my SO is a doctor too, and whenever we feel something we do discuss it like a group project in which he always refuse any treatment until his symptoms got to the very worst."
eatfart420
It can be quite the enlightening experience when the tables are flipping.
Any other medical professionals what to chime in? Let us know in the comments.
