seifert@ihuxl.UUCP (10/10/83)
Shop for a doctor the same way I shop for a stereo dealer? Hardly. Do you audition speakers bleeding and half-unconscious? Do you rate the merits of the latest cartridge hobbling around on one leg because the other is broken? I don't. When one is in need of a doctor, one often isn't in the position of picking and choosing carefully. More like find the nearest medical center, pray that he/she is competent, and make sure you have your insurance card. You *do* carry it with you at all times, don't you? Even when jogging/swimming/etc? Sure doctors are only human. I don't expect them to be perfect. I don't expect them to be experts in all areas of medicine. They have a difficult job to do, and I don't begrudge them being paid more than average for it (although not to the extremes that some doctors apparently carry it to). HOWEVER, I do expect them to at *least* be competent! Unfortunately I have no assurance of this. In fact, the evidence I've seen says that I can expect *in*competence. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE! If my auto mechanic is incompetent, I can fix my own car. If the local contractors are incompetent, I could build my own house. If I need an appendectomy, there's no way I can get around the need for a surgeon. And I'm not going to be in any position to 'shop' for one. Whoever I happen to get had *better* know what he/she is doing. Dave Seifert ihnp4!ihuxl!seifert -- Dave Seifert ihnp4!ihuxl!seifert
decot@cwruecmp.UUCP (Dave Decot) (10/12/83)
Certainly you can shop for a doctor when you're NOT somehow mangled. A good time to do this is shortly after moving to a new area, or after a bad experience (financial or medical) with your chosen one. ---------------------------------------- Dave Decot ..!decvax!cwruecmp!decot
CSvax:cmh@pur-ee.UUCP (10/12/83)
One may protest that doctors are not supposed to be insensitive, arrogant and incompetent, but the fact remains that some are, just as in any other profession. People who cannot accept this and deal with it will be worse off than those who deal more flexibly with reality. Chris Hoffmann
jwb@mcnc.UUCP (10/13/83)
Some physicians are indeed arrogant, incompetent, and insensitive. However, people who assume the people they are dealing with have these characteristics seem to find a higher proportion than people who go into any kind of relation- ship assumming the best about the other person until proven otherwise. This applies to all interpersonal relationships, not just with your physician Jack Buchanan UNC-Chapel Hill decvax!duke!mcnc!jwb