I got to the clinic and within the first five minutes my doctor had a diagnosis. I didn’t even get the chance to tell her half of my symptoms. Doctors do this so often – they speak and don’t listen.
This may just be one patient’s story – my story – but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen to many other people. Haven’t you ever felt this way during or after an important visit to the doctor? The issue with healthcare these days is that the physician doesn’t take the time to listen to the patient’s story and instead listens to what they have learned about the set of symptoms present in the patient. Doctors are also not getting enough time for each patient in an average workweek anymore. These are two of the worst problems with healthcare. …show more content…
To become a doctor in the US there are four rigorous steps. Step one: earning a Bachelor’s Degree which entails four years of college studying your specific field. Earning a Bachelor’s degree in an area that is most likely required for most medical schools is difficult. Imagine a list of what you think are the hardest areas to get a Bachelor’s degree in. Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Anatomy, Biology, Physics, and Calculus. Were any of those on your list? Most medical schools require a degree in one of these to even be considered. After you have gotten your degree, you have to take a test: the MCAT. The MCAT tests students on three separate sections: physical science, verbal reasoning, and biological sciences. If you pass the MCAT and are accepted into medical school you spend four years completing anatomy, biochemistry, ethics, pharmacology, physiology, and psychology classes. During the last two years of medical school, students are required to gain real-world experience by being supervised by licensed physicians in hospitals and clinics. After medical school the aspiring doctors take one of two exams to get their license. They then have to complete a residency in a hospital that can last from three to eight years. Some specialties are then required do a fellowship which can last up to three …show more content…
But does that necessarily mean that they know more about every illness than the patient does, and does that mean that the doctor really knows what the patient is going through? No. Every patient’s experience with their disease or illness is unique. No two patients have gone through the same exact thing and therefore no doctor can know exactly what each patient needs unless they listen to the patient’s story. Each set of symptoms is experienced in a completely different way, so even the best doctors – even doctors who have been through something similar to the patient – need to take the time to listen to every word the patient has to say because what they have to say is what matters. We know when it hurts. We know where it hurts. We know how bad it hurts. All we need to know from our doctors is why it hurts and how to make it stop hurting. Doctors may have studied a specific disease for years, but they will never truly understand the disease as completely as we patients
This may just be one patient’s story – my story – but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen to many other people. Haven’t you ever felt this way during or after an important visit to the doctor? The issue with healthcare these days is that the physician doesn’t take the time to listen to the patient’s story and instead listens to what they have learned about the set of symptoms present in the patient. Doctors are also not getting enough time for each patient in an average workweek anymore. These are two of the worst problems with healthcare. …show more content…
To become a doctor in the US there are four rigorous steps. Step one: earning a Bachelor’s Degree which entails four years of college studying your specific field. Earning a Bachelor’s degree in an area that is most likely required for most medical schools is difficult. Imagine a list of what you think are the hardest areas to get a Bachelor’s degree in. Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Anatomy, Biology, Physics, and Calculus. Were any of those on your list? Most medical schools require a degree in one of these to even be considered. After you have gotten your degree, you have to take a test: the MCAT. The MCAT tests students on three separate sections: physical science, verbal reasoning, and biological sciences. If you pass the MCAT and are accepted into medical school you spend four years completing anatomy, biochemistry, ethics, pharmacology, physiology, and psychology classes. During the last two years of medical school, students are required to gain real-world experience by being supervised by licensed physicians in hospitals and clinics. After medical school the aspiring doctors take one of two exams to get their license. They then have to complete a residency in a hospital that can last from three to eight years. Some specialties are then required do a fellowship which can last up to three …show more content…
But does that necessarily mean that they know more about every illness than the patient does, and does that mean that the doctor really knows what the patient is going through? No. Every patient’s experience with their disease or illness is unique. No two patients have gone through the same exact thing and therefore no doctor can know exactly what each patient needs unless they listen to the patient’s story. Each set of symptoms is experienced in a completely different way, so even the best doctors – even doctors who have been through something similar to the patient – need to take the time to listen to every word the patient has to say because what they have to say is what matters. We know when it hurts. We know where it hurts. We know how bad it hurts. All we need to know from our doctors is why it hurts and how to make it stop hurting. Doctors may have studied a specific disease for years, but they will never truly understand the disease as completely as we patients