General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Nitwits & Why Physicians Lose Credibility [View all]Lydia Leftcoast
(48,217 posts)he has told me that
1) MDs get 1/2 day of training in nutrition, and it's mostly about what deficiency diseases they present
2) Many if not most doctors are very closed-minded about anything that they didn't learn in medical school and get most of their "updated" knowledge from drug companies
He says he has learned a lot from nutritionists, physical therapists, and even chiropractors and has the cured patients to prove it, people who were referred for back surgery and came to him for a second opinion. He tests their posture, muscle balance, and blood nutrient levels and asks them about their jobs and daily routines. Sometimes they don't need surgery at all, just physical therapy or nutritional supplementation, or a variation in their job routine or shoe inserts or something equally non-invasive.
He criticizes his fellow physicians for thinking only of medication or surgery when a patient shows up with an ailment, and if medication or surgery doesn't work, then they tend to assume that "it's all in the patient's head." He also got out of medical practice groups that required him to schedule patients every 15 minutes so as to maximize profits. He actually got kicked out of one group for not referring enough patients for surgery.
Three years ago, I fell on the ice and broke my elbow. When it happened, I was on my way to volunteer at a meal program for street youth, where a medical team of a medical school professor and some students were also volunteering to consult with the street youth on health issues. They weren't busy, so I went to ask them about my injury. The professor used me as an object lesson of how to diagnose possible fractures, and he diagnosed me (correctly as it turned out). I asked what I should do, and he said to go in to Urgent Care and get fitted for a removable cast, since I would mostly need to keep the elbow immobilized but should move it a bit each day to prevent it from freezing up.
The next day, I went to Urgent Care, where the doctor on duty took X-rays, confirmed the diagnosis, and gave me a removable cast. However, he also sent the X-rays to India to be read again and made an appointment for me with the orthopedists in his group.
The orthopedist did nothing but confirm that the X-rays showed exactly what the previous two doctors had said. He didn't even examine my arm, but decided that I needed a lighter-weight cast.
The bill for Urgent Care was $250. The bill for the orthopedist was $800. (This began to give me some insight as to why America spends so much money on medical care.)