Do you trust that doctors generally know what they're doing?

It honestly depends what they say. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Yep.

Ha! Ha! I'm an RN and I can tell you a lot of stories, but yeah, I trust them for the most part.

Yes and no. My mother is a nurse, so when sentiments are echoed between the two, I tend to believe them.

Chris wrote:

Do you trust that doctors generally know what they're doing?

Up to a point. For routine matters. They're human and make mistakes too. I think doctors used to be one of the most trusted occupations in opinion polls. Maybe they still are but I don't think they're held in the reverent status they used to be. I think most people are more likely to get a second opinion on something their doctor told them about their body then from something their mechanic told them about their car.

Chris wrote:

Do you trust that doctors generally know what they're doing?

Depends on the specific doctor in question, the specific injury/illness, and their evaluation/treatment regimen. Ingorance is bliss. The problem with knowing too much about anatomy and physiology is that it can cause you to second guess your doctor (especially if you don't trust their determination based on how thorough their evaluation was). If I complain about intense pain in my knee for the last week and a doctor says that he thinks it's a strained muscle or tendon inflammation, I am less likely to buy that explaination if he hasn't done an x-ray or MRI. The fact is, MOST diagnosis from doctors are just educated "guesses" based on the symptoms you describe. Unless they actually conduct a thorough examination, you are pretty much just rolling the dice when they tell you what's "wrong with you".

Having said that, I have had great doctors before that were spot on with their diagnosis and treatments. So again, it all depends on the doctor in question and I they rub me.

I don't trust all doctors, but I do trust mine. If, though, I were to ever be diagnosed as terminal, or if my doc recommended that I undergo something radical, I would seek a second opinion. Like I said, I trust my doctor, but they make mistakes like everyone else.

I believe Frank Zappa’s prostate cancer went undiagnosed for years before they finally told him, “Oops, sorry, now it’s inoperable.”

Interesting answers. I will say that I have had medical opinions from 'experts,' who did a lot of double speaking and didn't seem all that sure of what they were saying. I trust my doctor, but I will get a second opinion on anything I'm alerted to that's serious.

just any doctor, no. A doctor who has earned my trust, yes.

I used to trust them a lot more, but then I had a bad one and I learned my lesson.

He did all of the following:
Told me to take a medication that gave me hives saying "it doesn't sound life threatening" (then I DID have a life threatening reaction to it the next time I took it).

Prescribed a drug for my infant that is not supposed to be used under age 6 because it can cause respiratory distress, my daughter was like 6 months old when he gave it to her.

Told me that it was impossible that my daughter didn't poop for 21 days when she was 2 months old. Even though I was the one to change her diaper every time and I was anxiously waiting for her to poop!


I found out about the two things with my daughter only after we changed docs. Turns out that it's very common for breast fed infants to not poop for long periods because breast milk is so digestible.

thepossiblepolice wrote:

...He did all of the following:
Told me to take a medication that gave me hives saying "it doesn't sound life threatening" (then I DID have a life threatening reaction to it the next time I took it)....

You had a bona-fide Quack who was a danger to his patients. Even some drug that they sell on TV has one of the warnings if you get a rash consult your doc immediately. I looked up Tylenol once, the most used drug on the planet and they warn of the seriousness of a skin rash and to D/C and see your doctor. The skin rash can be a pre-cursor to aniphylactic shock, which is deadly. I can't believe a medical doctor would dismiss that so flippantly.

Which brings me back to I do not trust doctors blindly. I research my illnesses as a lay person to be informed of what's going on.

Shale wrote:

thepossiblepolice wrote:

...He did all of the following:
Told me to take a medication that gave me hives saying "it doesn't sound life threatening" (then I DID have a life threatening reaction to it the next time I took it)....

You had a bona-fide Quack who was a danger to his patients. Even some drug that they sell on TV has one of the warnings if you get a rash consult your doc immediately. I looked up Tylenol once, the most used drug on the planet and they warn of the seriousness of a skin rash and to D/C and see your doctor. The skin rash can be a pre-cursor to aniphylactic shock, which is deadly. I can't believe a medical doctor would dismiss that so flippantly.

Which brings me back to I do not trust doctors blindly. I research my illnesses as a lay person to be informed of what's going on.

Yeah, he was not a good doctor.

Not always. It's important for people to be informed as much as possible & be involved in their own care. They just need to not get carried away with it because they read some stuff on the net. There needs to be a balance. But you should never just blindly trust a doctor either.

Until they give me reason not to or cause to believe they dont know what theyre doing.

In general, not much.

I will always get a second opinion on things that are serious. I have had too many examples of getting to very different opinions from two doctors, that I think if any of us had anything life threatening, I would get a third opinion as well.

Supernova wrote:

In general, not much.

^^^That.

Coincidentally, a co-worker of mine told me today that she found a new pediatrician who told her it's time to let the baby cry it out at night. He's 9 months old. The doctor told her to buy some earplugs and let him scream. Makes me want to vomit. Doctors should give medical advice, not parenting advice.

My older son was misdiagnosed with ADHD for nearly a decade. I knew that's not what it was, but nobody would listen to me because I'm "just a mom." My instincts turned out to be spot on. At age 13 he had surgery for sleep apnea and was like a new kid.

My husband recently had a bout of cellulitis on his face, which is quite dangerous. His doctor prescribed him an antibiotic that isn't generally indicated for cellulitis, and I was suspicious of it. His condition got far worse over the following 48 hours, and when he went back to his doctor the doctor looked in the chart and said, "Oh, I prescribed that? That's weird."

I have a background and a future in health care and research things for myself. I feel for people who don't know better and think doctors are gods.

2xy wrote:

Supernova wrote:

In general, not much.

^^^That.

Coincidentally, a co-worker of mine told me today that she found a new pediatrician who told her it's time to let the baby cry it out at night. He's 9 months old. The doctor told her to buy some earplugs and let him scream. Makes me want to vomit. Doctors should give medical advice, not parenting advice.

My older son was misdiagnosed with ADHD for nearly a decade. I knew that's not what it was, but nobody would listen to me because I'm "just a mom." My instincts turned out to be spot on. At age 13 he had surgery for sleep apnea and was like a new kid.

My husband recently had a bout of cellulitis on his face, which is quite dangerous. His doctor prescribed him an antibiotic that isn't generally indicated for cellulitis, and I was suspicious of it. His condition got far worse over the following 48 hours, and when he went back to his doctor the doctor looked in the chart and said, "Oh, I prescribed that? That's weird."

I have a background and a future in health care and research things for myself. I feel for people who don't know better and think doctors are gods.

This is true, because doctors ARE just regular people, like the rest of us, it's just that they were trained in areas we were not, doesn't mean they know more than we do necessarily...and you always worry about what if the doctor makes a mistake? Here's one that occurred to me the other night, what if a doctor sneezes while he's cutting somebody open? I mean if you're like us and have those violent sneezes when your whole body shakes, what the hell is that going to do to the patient?

There has been more than one incident at Rhode Island Hospital in the past few years that the wrong body part was operated on. Wrong leg, wrong side of brain, etc. I know it's a teaching hospital, but sheesh! They also were recently fined for leaving a pair of forceps in a patient's body, and a broken drill-bit in another patient's scalp. WTF?

2xy wrote:

There has been more than one incident at Rhode Island Hospital in the past few years that the wrong body part was operated on. Wrong leg, wrong side of brain, etc. I know it's a teaching hospital, but sheesh! They also were recently fined for leaving a pair of forceps in a patient's body, and a broken drill-bit in another patient's scalp. WTF?

I've heard of people writing "IT'S THIS ONE" on the arm or leg that's being operated on. And there was that one doctor who left a patient during surgery because he needed a snack.

And then there are people like the doctor my mother had when she was in labor with me who decided I should be a C-section because he didn't get paid for regular deliveries, only he didn't know what he was doing so he read books on how to operate WHILE he was doing it, my mother was one of the lucky ones that got out alive.

I echo the sentiments others have made about getting a second and third opinion for any serious diagnosis. I saw on a TV talk show once a story about a woman whose doctor told her that she had a condition that was terminal and that she needed to get her affairs in order. While everyone accepted the diagnosis and braced themselves for her death, her sister was the one who said "Hey, let's ask someone else." They went to Cancer Treatment Centers of America, and they were told her condition could be treated and eventually she returned to full health. I trust my doctor, but I wouldn't accept any first opinion about something serious.