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

[45408]

Reminds me of a book I read, all the residents started faking labs because the senior resident kept ordering too many invasive tests and the patients were getting worse due to the complications.

Ah yes, Bernstein Bears and the Terminal Wean

good book.

While I didn't like most of the House of God, that part was classic. If there's nothing wrong with you, a huge work-up is very likely going to make something wrong with you.

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[Little Etoile]

I'm curious to all of the med students and residents on here saying that you should stay home for procedures/ailments that can be handled at home, in order to free up resources for people who actually need hospital care. (Just to clarify, I again, totally agree with this position.)

What about childbirth? That can be done at home with midwives and has been since... well... humans were first being born. What are you thoughts on that?

 

[pianola]

On a bumper sticker: "Midwives help people out."

That's all I got. I'm reasonably sure I'd be interested in an epidural during pregnancy and I'm not sure if that fact, in and of itself, precludes home birth. I'll look into it later, I suppose.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

I'm curious to all of the med students and residents on here saying that you should stay home for procedures/ailments that can be handled at home, in order to free up resources for people who actually need hospital care. (Just to clarify, I again, totally agree with this position.)

What about childbirth? That can be done at home with midwives and has been since... well... humans were first being born. What are you thoughts on that?

Is this a serious question?

Parturition can be complicated by breech presentations, failure of descent, eclampsia, horrific bleeding etc. It's not quite the same as a sprained back or a bad cold.

 

[pianola]

I met a woman yesterday who gave birth to a 22-lb girl (C-section).

There are some situations which clearly scream "HOSPITAL".

 

[Strength&Speed]

While I didn't like most of the House of God, that part was classic. If there's nothing wrong with you, a huge work-up is very likely going to make something wrong with you.

The best part is that House of God, although written about 30 yrs ago, is still pretty applicable. I routinely would say (especially in clinic)...Oh yeah, I'll do that, with absolutely no intention of ever doing it. those lazy ass attendings didn't know the difference, and it was too much work to argue with some of their half-baked opinions. Why fight it

 

[batch5000]

I have to point out that contraception is not necessarily prescription medication. Condoms are contraception. Heck, even the rhythm method is contraception. There are plenty of ways you could provide information without writing a script.

It's not troubling that doctors would confidentially counsel teenage patients on contraception; it's troubling that 100% of doctors would not counsel them. Teenagers are hard-wired to have sex, and they always have been. Your sense of morality is no match for raging hormones. We want teens to know that they can approach their doctor for confidential information without fear of repercussion. Like any patient, a teenager comes to you looking for honest medical advice, not a moral judgment or a ratting out to the parents.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[45408]

What about childbirth? That can be done at home with midwives and has been since... well... humans were first being born. What are you thoughts on that?

It's pretty unlikely that anyone will die from a cold or a papercut or a hangover, but you'd better believe that a lot of women used to die in childbirth.

 

[Jolie South]

It's pretty unlikely that anyone will die from a cold or a papercut or a hangover, but you'd better believe that a lot of women used to die in childbirth.

and a lot still do in the developing world.