I feel extremely fortunate and lucky that I have had relatively little personal experience in the healthcare field. Most of my family, outside of grandparents that were in their 80s, has also been relatively healthy. I have not had cancer, broken a bone, gotten into an accident, or some other problem to bring me into a hospital, which would make it easy to say that I do not have a “illness narrative,” but the more I thought about this topic the more I realized how integral healthcare has been to me. While I have not had serious illnesses or treatments, I have had regular check-ups, gone to the doctor when I had a small problem, and been to specialists for my eyes and skin. Preventative medicine has been integral to my upbringing and culture, which could very well be the reason I have not had any serious illness in the past.
Every year, most of the time in the summer, I go to my primary care physician. I have done this as long as I can remember and I know I did it well before that. Each year changes slightly, but it all went off the same theme. I first go in and check in at the same desk with the same office clerk, who always knows my name. …show more content…
Now I could imagine someone in my family being angry if a physician was negligent or was obviously rude, but I cannot picture a scenario where we completely ignored medical advice and felt we should go with a different course of treatment. We, for the most part, trust medical advice and feel it is a wise opinion to listen to. Maybe this is because we have been fortunate enough to interact with competent doctors. Maybe it is because outside of myself, no one in my family has any educational background in healthcare and therefore a doctor is seen as much more knowledgeable on the subject. It could be any mix of these or other reasons, but it is something that until recently I had never considered or thought
Every year, most of the time in the summer, I go to my primary care physician. I have done this as long as I can remember and I know I did it well before that. Each year changes slightly, but it all went off the same theme. I first go in and check in at the same desk with the same office clerk, who always knows my name. …show more content…
Now I could imagine someone in my family being angry if a physician was negligent or was obviously rude, but I cannot picture a scenario where we completely ignored medical advice and felt we should go with a different course of treatment. We, for the most part, trust medical advice and feel it is a wise opinion to listen to. Maybe this is because we have been fortunate enough to interact with competent doctors. Maybe it is because outside of myself, no one in my family has any educational background in healthcare and therefore a doctor is seen as much more knowledgeable on the subject. It could be any mix of these or other reasons, but it is something that until recently I had never considered or thought