41 Secrets You Doctor Would Never Share (Reader's Digest)

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Hard to get past the fact that the second quote they stuck in, purportedly from a group consisting of "general practitioners, surgeons, shrinks, pediatricians, and other specialists" was by a chiropractor. Someone needs to tell Reader's digest that chiropractors are not medical doctors. So the fact that they are apparently teaching folks in chiropracty school to put patients in gowns to make them feel subservient (rather than because it's impossible to do a decent medical exam through a lot of clothing) shouldn't be used by Reader's digest to besmirch physicians. Not acceptable.
 
In many hospitals, the length of the white coat is related to the length of training. Medical students wear the shortest coats.
--Pediatrician, Baltimore

Haha that one made me laugh.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
• Many patients assume that female physicians are nurses or therapists. I can't tell you how often I've introduced myself as Dr. M. and then been called a nurse, therapist, or aide and asked to fetch coffee or perform other similar tasks. I have great respect for our nurses and other ancillary personnel and the work they do, but this doesn't seem to happen to my male colleagues.
--Physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor, Royal Oak, Michigan

I hear this one ALL the time from the residents who are precepted in the clinic where I shadow...

Is it true? Do any other pre-meds have a perspective on this one?
 
Shocking Stats

58% would give adolescents contraceptives without parental consent.
Source: New England Journal of Medicine


WTH would you not give your patients contraceptives?
 
• When a doctor tells you to lose 15 to 20 pounds, what he really means is you need to lose 50.
--Tamara Merritt, DO, family physician, Brewster, Washington


This I HAVE seen a billion times.
 
If you're planning on becoming a doctor, most of those things should be common knowledge by your first couple of pre-med years, at the latest.
 
Shocking Stats

58% would give adolescents contraceptives without parental consent.
Source: New England Journal of Medicine


WTH would you not give your patients contraceptives?
:thumbup:
 
Haha that one made me laugh.

There's actually truth to this one as Law2Doc said.

I hear this one ALL the time from the residents who are precepted in the clinic where I shadow...

Is it true? Do any other pre-meds have a perspective on this one?

Several male pre-med friends of mine have said that on their shadows, even after being introduced to the patients as a student who is shadowing, the patients often call them "doctor". I think there definitely is a gender bias.
 
There's actually truth to this one as Law2Doc said.



Several male pre-med friends of mine have said that on their shadows, even after being introduced to the patients as a student who is shadowing, the patients often call them "doctor". I think there definitely is a gender bias.


As a physician in private practice, will I have the ability to refuse to see patients who won't take me seriously because I'm a woman? What about in a hospital?

I really don't think I need people who are constantly doubting my diagnostic abilities just because I don't have an appendage between the legs. :thumbdown:
 
Several male pre-med friends of mine have said that on their shadows, even after being introduced to the patients as a student who is shadowing, the patients often call them "doctor". I think there definitely is a gender bias.
Yep, that's happened to me a couple times.

As a physician in private practice, will I have the ability to refuse to see patients who won't take me seriously because I'm a woman?
Probably, but you'll risk bad word-of-mouth. That probably doesn't mean much, though, since there's such a phenomenal shortage of doctors that a few (dozen) patients won't make any difference at all.

What about in a hospital?
Doubtful, but it's much easier to make their lives hellish. A 3-hour wait for a check-up is a very effective teaching tool.
 
Yep, that's happened to me a couple times.

Probably, but you'll risk bad word-of-mouth. That probably doesn't mean much, though, since there's such a phenomenal shortage of doctors that a few (dozen) patients won't make any difference at all.

Doubtful, but it's much easier to make their lives hellish. A 3-hour wait for a check-up is a very effective teaching tool.

Heh. If they thought I was an incompetent woman-doctor before the check-up, they may have no doubts after the 3-hour wait! :laugh:
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Heh. If they thought I was an incompetent woman-doctor before the check-up, they may have no doubts after the 3-hour wait! :laugh:


Christ, take it easy. I doubt anyone is mistaking you on purpose with malicious intent. They just expect a male doctor. Correct their mistake and treat them instead of acting like a vindictive child.
 
That article didn't really show anything too surprising. Quite of few of those sounded very pandabearesque even.
 
Christ, take it easy. I doubt anyone is mistaking you on purpose with malicious intent. They just expect a male doctor. Correct their mistake and treat them instead of acting like a vindictive child.

I'm not only speaking on the issue of assuming MD = male. I'm talking about the situations where the patient is distrustful of a female diagnosis and/or refuses to believe that a female is qualified to treat and advise.

YES, I have heard of and seen the above.


Apparently you missed the humor in my last post, begaster?
 
Yep, that's happened to me a couple times.

Probably, but you'll risk bad word-of-mouth. That probably doesn't mean much, though, since there's such a phenomenal shortage of doctors that a few (dozen) patients won't make any difference at all.

Doubtful, but it's much easier to make their lives hellish. A 3-hour wait for a check-up is a very effective teaching tool.

Hmm. I have no doubt this happens all the time to female physicians. But at my job as a paternity collector, I wear a white lab coat, and people for whatever reason, think I'm a doctor all the time. Sure, I get a few people who realize I'm just a student with a part-time job, then there are the few who call me "nurse". But a significant portion sort of seem scared of me as a "doctor" or something... it must be the coat. Or else, it's something about my demeanor... I'm kind of quiet, and for some reason I've found people seem to be intimidated by that. If I were more gregarious, I think they'd think I were a nurse...

I imagine if female physicians refrain from wearing the "colorful scrubs" patients would naturally identify them as physicians based on the coat.
 
• In many ways, doctors are held to an unrealistic standard. We are never, ever allowed to make a mistake. I don't know anybody who can live that way.
--James Dillard, MD
 
Hmm. I have no doubt this happens all the time to female physicians. But at my job as a paternity collector, I wear a white lab coat, and people for whatever reason, think I'm a doctor all the time. Sure, I get a few people who realize I'm just a student with a part-time job, then there are the few who call me "nurse". But a significant portion sort of seem scared of me as a "doctor" or something... it must be the coat. Or else, it's something about my demeanor... I'm kind of quiet, and for some reason I've found people seem to be intimidated by that. If I were more gregarious, I think they'd think I were a nurse...

I imagine if female physicians refrain from wearing the "colorful scrubs" patients would naturally identify them as physicians based on the coat.

The physicians I've seen in practice (both men and women) just wear normal, professional clothes -- maybe that's part of the issue. But it's good to know that maybe I could possibly avoid an unpleasant situation by just wearing a white coat. I'll definitely keep that in mind.
 
what is really disturbing is reading the user comments at the bottom...the general public's view of physician's are so skewed. They have no idea that their expectations and demands are what is driving this downfall of our healthcare system.
 
• In many ways, doctors are held to an unrealistic standard. We are never, ever allowed to make a mistake. I don't know anybody who can live that way.
--James Dillard, MD

This quote just shows the naivety of some doctors. Who expects/allows their dentist to make a mistake? Or their lawyer? Or their banker? Honestly, if you don't like to be held to the standard of not being allowed to make mistakes, go into weather forecasting. For everybody else the standard is higher. And it is totally realistic to expect that someone who goes through 4 years of school and 3-5 years of training is going to be pretty darn good. And most are. And for when they aren't they have insurance. That's just the nature of the beast.
 
The worst comment was the one implying that doctors make patients wait on purpose. If a patient has to wait a long time, it's either because the patients before him/her were late (most likely) or because there was an emergency (less likely).
 
What a silly article.

RD is not exactly a serious publication though, so I'm sure they're readership will eat it up.
 
"Many patients assume that female physicians are nurses or therapists. I can't tell you how often I've introduced myself as Dr. M. and then been called a nurse, therapist, or aide and asked to fetch coffee or perform other similar tasks. I have great respect for our nurses and other ancillary personnel and the work they do, but this doesn't seem to happen to my male colleagues."

Gosh some females are annoying.
 
"Many patients assume that female physicians are nurses or therapists. I can't tell you how often I've introduced myself as Dr. M. and then been called a nurse, therapist, or aide and asked to fetch coffee or perform other similar tasks. I have great respect for our nurses and other ancillary personnel and the work they do, but this doesn't seem to happen to my male colleagues."

Gosh some females are annoying.

Sexism much?
 
I can't believe I read the majority of the comments. Some people are so stupid.
 
In order to avoid getting angry and frustrated for no reason, I'm going to refrain from reading the user comments.
 
This quote just shows the naivety of some doctors. Who expects/allows their dentist to make a mistake? Or their lawyer? Or their banker? Honestly, if you don't like to be held to the standard of not being allowed to make mistakes, go into weather forecasting. For everybody else the standard is higher. And it is totally realistic to expect that someone who goes through 4 years of school and 3-5 years of training is going to be pretty darn good. And most are. And for when they aren't they have insurance. That's just the nature of the beast.

I think this points more to your naivete. Being a doctor is not the same as being a banker or a lawyer. And the length of training doesn't change the fact that some things are outside your control, or fall through the cracks, or are overlooked, despite due diligence. I understand that people don't expect you to make mistakes, but that doesn't make it reasonable.
 
What a silly article.

RD is not exactly a serious publication though, so I'm sure they're readership will eat it up.

What was silly about it? I thought it was one of the more informative, better written articles about the true feelings of medical professionals. What would you say is silly about it? And I'll give you a few outlyers...i.e. the chiropractor who gets people into gowns when they aren't listening to you. But on the whole i thought it was pretty good.
 
That article didn't really show anything too surprising. Quite of few of those sounded very pandabearesque even.
I found it very surprising 42% of the doctors would refuse their patients contraceptives.
 
"44% of doctors admit they're overweight.
Source: Nutrition & Food Science; Minnesota Medicine"

Ha, I hope these weren't the same docs that recommended their own patients "lose 15 to 20 lbs, but really meaning 50lbs". :laugh: Hypocrisy, yes? Interesting article though...not as shocking as I thought it'd be. Docs are human too, imagine that.
 
What was silly about it? I thought it was one of the more informative, better written articles about the true feelings of medical professionals. What would you say is silly about it? And I'll give you a few outlyers...i.e. the chiropractor who gets people into gowns when they aren't listening to you. But on the whole i thought it was pretty good.

Well it really wasn't "written" at all was it? It was a series of quotes by supposed MDs, DOs, and DCs (???). The fact that they included chiropractors in there as "your doctor" is bizarre for one thing. It's the sort of thing that is bread and butter for RD namely a quick read that will spark a little bit of outrage in some people. Last time I picked up an RD they had a section called "Outrage of the Month" or some other such nonsense.

The publication is not a serious one.
 
I think this points more to your naivete. Being a doctor is not the same as being a banker or a lawyer.

I agree with you. Law2Doc is still a medical student, yet speaks with the air of an attending.

Being a doctor is definitely not the same as other professions. Obviously, no one expects their lawyer, banker, etc to make a mistake, but doctors are held to much higher standards than other professions and that's what the doctor's quote seems to be reflecting. It's an unrealistic standard because patients expect you to be perfect. They don't expect the same unrealistic standards from bankers, etc. :rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
As it has been pointed out, Law2Doc's attitude many times is a turnoff.

Why? Because you can't handle the truth? Try reading Panda Bears blog if you really want to know the truth of medical training and medical career.
 
I think this points more to your naivete. Being a doctor is not the same as being a banker or a lawyer. And the length of training doesn't change the fact that some things are outside your control, or fall through the cracks, or are overlooked, despite due diligence. I understand that people don't expect you to make mistakes, but that doesn't make it reasonable.

I agree. Bankers, lawyers, ect. do not work under the same kinds of high stress environment that docs do. They are dealing with people's money, not lives.
 
Uh oh Law2Doc bashing hijack....

He is also a lot older than most of us and has been to law school (I think).

Just sayin'...
 
Last time I checked, Panda Bear was a resident, NOT a med student.[/quote]

Mam, take a minute to re-read my post. I said to learn about medical training and medical school. Last time I checked, a resident is the process of medical training. Also, the last time I checked, a medical student knows what medical school is like. He has posts about both topics.
 
Uh oh Law2Doc bashing hijack....

He is also a lot older than most of us and has been to law school (I think).

Just sayin'...

Some people just don't like the voice of truth. If their own voice is not heard, the cry of the unpopular surfaces.
 
Uh oh Law2Doc bashing hijack....

He is also a lot older than most of us and has been to law school (I think).

Just sayin'...

I was just going to read through this thread and not say anything, but this made me LOL :laugh:
 
Top