Creating the Doctor-Patient Relationship
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
by Marilyn Freedman
One of Toronto’s great magazines that is circulated for free has a column which is written by a pediatrician. He chose to write about vaccinations this month. The article began with a vitriolic accusation that “those that practice alternative medicine” are to blame for caregivers who refuse to have their children immunized. The last words, “In conclusion, I have (sic) grandchildren. All have been immunized. What I do for my own I recommend for yours.”
I understand that. He’s old school and still believes in ‘do what I say and don’t question my wisdom’ era. There is an old joke: What’s the difference between God and a Doctor? God doesn’t think that he is a doctor. Besides the arrogance of this pediatrician I was taken aback by the vitriol towards people like me.
Personally, I don’t give advice for this very difficult choice parents have to make. I know from personal experience how hard the struggle can be when you are in the midst of a society which is firmly entrenched in the ‘one way of doing medicine’ can be. As a matter of fact my youngest child got the Hepatitis B vaccine at school without consulting me – no one asked my permission at all. Wait! I take it back, I do give advice to the question of vaccinations: Become An Educated Consumer. Research all you can, and then make your own decisions. Do you remember learning in grammar school that it was really important to know Who, What, Where, When, and Why? Still applies. For instance, The five “W”s are fundamental to a homeopaths understanding of a case for any successful treatment: Who is the patient? What is the complaint? Where do the symptoms present? When do they experience symptoms? Why might not be for us to know, but With What other symptoms that come at the same time, is. The word ‘doctor’ is from old French, via Latin, ‘docere’, which means “teach’, and teaching, apart from treating, is much of what happens in my clinic.
In direct contrast to the pomposity of this pediatrician’s article is an article from the CBC, entitled “Doctors urged to admit medical mistakes”. There is a new initiative to have doctors tell patients about errors they have made while overseeing their care. Apparently the patients appreciate it, and guess what? “…it actually enhanced the relationship”.
My last word: I’ve been saying it all along: The patient doctor relationship is just that, a relationship, and in my clinical experience it is like a partnership. All these old school boys should smarten up. They should know that they’re not God.
Here is the link to the CBC article:
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/07/31/disclosure-doctors.html