There’s many different views of doctors and the healthcare industry (or sick-care industry depending on your point of view). I’ve personally have had great experiences with doctors. I’ve also had not-so-great experience with doctors. For me, doctors are an invaluable part of a wellness support team.
They provide a professional medical opinion based on years of education and experience that the general public doesn’t have. They are trained and taught what to look for and take the proper steps to diagnose and treat disease. Besides issues of liability, this is the reason why I recommend seeking medical advice as a disclaimer. They understand risks such as drug interactions or health conditions that I may not understand. Your doctor knows your personal situation. They often work with other medical professionals to make better decisions.
I believe it’s important to find a doctor that you can have open communication with. If you are into phytotherapy (herbs, essential oils, and supplements), it may be important to find a doctor familiar with those fields. Many doctors have limited knowledge or dismissive towards phytotherapy. Some doctors are open towards phytotherapy and eager to support your needs.
Once upon a time, family doctors would make house calls. They would visit the family and have a better understanding of the family. Doctors connected with their patients on a deeper level.
Today, doctors spend an average of 15 minutes with their patients and rely on charts. I’ve been to doctor appointments, where I spend more time with nurses taking my vitals.
It is typical for doctors to have over 3,000 patients and spend over 8 hours a week just on paperwork. It is no wonder many doctors experience burnout and are overburdened with their workload.
On top that, patients become overdependent on health care. The focus on care shifted from disease prevention, to treatment.
An analogy would be like having a car and never maintaining it, not changing oil, and going to mechanic to fix problems that could have been prevented. If everyone did that, auto repair shops would be overburdened just like our health care system. The poor quality of care is not entirely the doctors fault.
There is hope. New health care models are emerging.
Patient-Doctor Ratio
I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person’s family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.
Part of the modern Hippocratic Oath
There are doctors lower their patient load, so they can spend more time with the patient. These doctors are considered “concierge doctors” or direct primary care (DPC) doctors. Patients often pay a monthly retainer fee, to have direct access with the doctor. It is common only among wealthy patients who could afford the fees, but in recent years, concierge medicine has become more affordable. Doctors can also lower their patient load by working in teams.
Holistic (Osteopathic) or Allopathic Approach
I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.
Part of the modern Hippocratic Oath
There are doctors “whole person” approach to medicine—treating the entire person rather than just the symptoms. Usually these are Doctors in Osteopathic Medicine (DOs), but more Doctors of Medicine (MDs), and Nurse Practitioners (NPs) take this approach as well.
Team-Based Care or Traditional Primary Care
I will not be ashamed to say “I know not”, nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient’s recovery.
Part of the modern Hippocratic Oath
There are physician-led team-based care where health care professionals is to work as part of a physician-led team. They collaborate among team members, patients, and family to provide coordinated, high-quality, patient-centered care. This differs from traditional care where care is compartmentalized from specialist to specialist. In team-based health care, shared goals within and across a health care setting.
Provider-Relationship Model
I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug.
Part of the modern Hippocratic Oath
The “paternal” provider-patient relationship model is the “old school” model where a physician or other healthcare professional makes decisions for a patient without the explicit consent of the patient. The physician believes the decisions are in the patient’s best interests. But the control in the relationship resides with the physician rather than the patient, much as the control in a family resides with the parents and not the children. It requires a level of trust that the doctor provides the best possible outcome. For people who don’t want to worry about making decisions, this is great. For people who want more discussion, this authoritative model can feel authoritarian. Sometimes, patients feel that they are not free to control the decision. Sometimes paternalism in healthcare encroach on medical freedom.
The “technical” or “consumer” provider-patient relationship models where the provider supplying only technical medical expertise to the patient. The physician diagnoses the disease, explains treatment options to the patient, along with anticipated benefits and potential risks, and gives the probably of favorable outcomes with each option, including discussion of which ones are most popular in the patient’s situation, but no significant time is spent discussing patient life or health goals and values, and the patient is given complete freedom to decide on their own what to do. This is great for people who like to be informed and make informed decisions. It can be overwhelming for people who do not want to personally assess the risks and benefits and leave it to the doctor. An issue with the consumer provider-patient relationship is risks may be underestimated or understated. There is a problem with confirmation bias or patients seeking out doctors that will perform a treatment without really understanding the risk.
There is are provider-patient relationship models that serve as middle ground, involve the provider more in the patient. While the “paternal” model gives power to the doctor, and the “technical” or “consumer” model gives power to the patient, the middle-ground model gives power to both, and both doctor and patient work together to help the patient’s goals.
These middle-ground models are called “shared decision,” interpretive,” or “deliberative” models.
In “interpretive” models, the physician helps the patient identify their values and explore which treatment options fit the health-related goals the patient may have. A patient with a goal of staying physically fit would be interested in those treatment options that would tend to promote physical fitness.
Going a little further, on the “deliberative” model the physician actually tries to persuade the patient to change health-related values if the physician thinks the patient has the wrong ones, but the physician stops short of coercing the patient to change. So, for example, if the patient lacks the health-related goal of avoiding heart disease, and smokes and eats to excess, the provider should try to persuade the patient to adopt that health-related goal and refrain from those risky practices.
Edmund Peligrino, a renowned professor in medical ethics attempts to combine aspects of paternalism and autonomy in his concept of “beneficence-in-trust.” Beneficence should guide the provider’s actions toward the patient, but included in that beneficence is a respect for the autonomy and values of the patient. Autonomy is a necessary condition of beneficence. Knowledge of the patient’s own good should be gained through dialogue among the provider, patient, and family. However, it is recognized that ill patients are in a weakened state that may prevent them from being autonomous to the degree they otherwise would. In this compromised state, the patient comes to the provider for help and places trust in the beneficence of the provider.
There are different models for different people and situations. I personally value autonomy (freedom of personal choice) and value the doctor’s expertise. There are stories of doctors who have a “god-complex,” where they have unshakable belief characterized by consistently inflated feelings of personal ability, privilege, or infallibility that they over estimate themselves. Patients are left feeling they have no say in the matter and trapped. “Shared decision” models and “team-based” care helps empower patients to work together with their doctors. This trust and relationship is important for holistic models, because the efforts of the patients is a huge part of achieving health goals.
Pharmacology or Pharmacognosy, Nutrition and Lifestyle
There are doctors who prescribe phytotherapy or plant-based medicine (nutrition, supplements, herbs, essential oils and medical cannabis). Pharmacognosy is the study of the physical, chemical, biochemical, and biological properties of drugs, drug substances, or potential drugs or drug substances of natural origin. Due to increased interest and demand of plant-based medicine, more research is being done. Doctors may be more open to complimentary treatments more than ever.
There’s a new movement to revolutionize healthcare. The healthcare system is broken and overburdened, costs and lifestyle disease is at an all time high. Rather than shift all responsibility towards the medical professionals and treatment, we must take personal responsibility and commitment towards our health. It’s time to change the culture.
By reducing patient load, taking a holistic approach to wellness, working together with a team of medical professionals, we can improve the quality of health care and reduce costs. We can also be part of the movement through sharing knowledge and experiences and create a community of people who can support each other’s health needs.
While some doctors are still employing the “old school” models of health care, we can support and patronize doctors who are part of the movement and perhaps better outcomes and increased demand will transform how healthcare looks for tomorrow.
I personally visit Prime Meridian Healthcare for direct primary care, because they support this mission and adopted this new way of healthcare.
It checks off all the qualities I look for in health care:
- Low Patient-Doctor Ratio (face time with doctor is 30 min – 1 hour, per session)
- Holistic Approach (they approach health goals and address root causes)
- Team Based Care (they have a team of DO, MD, NP, PT medical professionals)
- Deliberative Model (they work together with the patient to work towards goals)
- Nutrition, Supplements, and Essential Oils (they make recommendations and have access to latest research)
Medical professionals are an invaluable part of the wellness support team. It’s just one part.
We decide who we want on our team. Health coach? Personal Trainer? Our Family and Friends?
Who’s team are we on? If we all do our part, we can see change in our health care and societies health. The current way is not working. It’s time for a change.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nutritionist, or registered dietician. I do not claim to help cure any condition or disease. I do not provide medical aid or nutrition advise for the purpose of health or disease.
The information I provide is based on my personal experience and is for educational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for medical treatment by a health care professional. Information provided here does not take the place of professional medical advice.
The products and claims made about specific products and services on or through this site have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration and are not approved to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease.
-Holan
