“Doctor, in room #2 the record shows non compliance with the prescribed cholesterol medication and a new high blood pressure finding. A1C levels remain elevated and it’s time for the flu shot as well.”
Does this patient have a NAME? If a doctor walked into room #2, do you think the conversation would be about “health” or “disease”?
Assuming this patient had complied with taking the medication prescribed for high cholesterol, would the CAUSE of her high cholesterol be CORRECTED preventing the need for future prescription refills?
NO!
Doctors are part of a profession that can look their patients directly in the eyes and WITHOUT any negative ramifications (in general) say:
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My goal is NOT to FIX your chronic disease.
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My job is to FOCUS on prescription treatments rather than discovering the CAUSES and SOLUTIONS for your conditions.
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If you don’t take the prescriptions as recommended, I will release you from care. If you don’t follow my essential lifestyle modification recommendations, I will gladly remain your physician anyway. You see, I will likely make more money if you don’t comply with my lifestyle recommendations because you will likely develop more chronic conditions requiring more prescriptions over time!
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I have no medical training in exercise or (biological) nutrition and do not feel obligated to better understand these components in health even though I know both play an important role in preventing disease.
All About Healthy Choices 
I hate when a doctor makes me feel like he is cranking out patients in a factory. My eye doctor is wonderful, the complete opposite. She and my wife start to talk clothes and shoes.
I changed my primary care physician in the fall, and my current MD is on watch, not too please with her either.
Thanks to you.
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Glad to see you in the “driver’s seat” deciding which physicians provide the type of care you’re interested in receiving. I am a big believer in the “5 minute interview”. If a doctor can’t give me 5 minutes without looking at the clock or his or her wallet, they’re not going to likely satisfy my needs as a patient. 5 minutes is all it takes to determine philosophy, approach and level of compassion a physician is willing to offer. In my opinion, these basic components are necessary for quality outcomes.
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You must be a tough patient.
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I only expect the BEST the doctor can offer. Nothing more, nothing less. In most cases they actually appreciate my attitude. They know what they’re dealing with and they tend to sharpen their creative thinking skills. I have a great deal of respect for the physicians that participate in my care.
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I agree with you a hundred percent. I had some minor heart trouble, and the doctor prescribed seven pills a day, and said I should get a device to zap me installed in my chest, just in case. I lost 25 lbs, didn’t get the device, started exercising, and I’m weaning myself off the pills. I understand that some people, do need medication, but it is always the first and easiest choice by doctors.
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Thank you for sharing your story. It is so very important that readers SEE real life experiences to better understand the message in these posts. With more than 20 years of experience as a doctor, I saw patients just like you looking for better answers unsatisfied with the poor results they commonly experienced. As they became more involved in their own wellbeing, the quality of health and life dramatically improved. If we truly want what’s in our patients best interests, we would not be willing to accept apathy and non compliance to lifestyle changes we know are required for quality outcomes.
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I think when the doctors start getting to busy to “talk” to their patients it’s time to look for a new doctor regardless of what field he or she is in. I have gone through that myself. And It’s great when you get a doctor that listens. I don’t expect a cure for things but I expect the best possible information and options from my doctors.
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You expect more than the average patient. In my opinion, that’s a GOOD thing. The average patient doesn’t care about “WHY” their condition may exist; they simply want the PILL that matches the treatment (not the FIX) in order to convince themselves they’re doing the right thing to be “healthy”. They don’t want to hear about their responsibilities necessary to truly increase the chances for quality outcomes.
This is NOT to say that prescription meds are unnecessary; it’s to say they are NEVER the COMPLETE answer/solution to the underlying problems that exist.
You are wise to require quality from the physicians offering you care.
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Yes I agree. I also hold like to ditch all pills . I am learning eating healthy plant based does more to ease my pain than most medications. My total cholesterol went from 213 to 143 and my ldl went from 146 to 87 thanks to eating good clean healthy food.
Now I’m working on dropping a few lbs like 35 but it’s hard when on thyroid medication.
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Focusing on the lifestyle habits rather than what they produce is the best way to achieve long term results. Thyroid conditions certainly affect metabolism. Providing proper support for the thyroid (not necessarily just pharmaceuticals) along with dietary and exercise regimens will likely improve the “scale” outcome as well.
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Yes it’s a slow very slow pace. But I am building more muscle.
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Typo I would like to ditch all pills.
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Great one!! Dr. Jonathan, I feel this kind of physician you’re referring to is hard to find.
Unfortunately!
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Less difficult than you may think. If you take the ACTIVE approach interviewing multiple doctors in multiple offices AND multiple disciplines rather than using networks or simply waiting to be handed down to another doctor in an existing practice, you might achieve better results.
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Thank you!
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The good doctors are definitely hard to find… but when I do find them, they always retire on me or move, lol. (I think I’ve been through 3 doctors in the past 4 years, sigh… and I think I’ll soon be searching for yet another one again… I don’t appreciate being cold-called out of the blue by the clinic to schedule a colonoscopy “per recommendation of my physician.”)
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Understandable. You may want to consider taking a more ACTIVE approach and scheduling multiple interviews to find the type and quality of doctor you desire. This is more effective than simply remaining within a group of doctors that “hand off” their patients as they move on in life.
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I have become that kind of ‘patient’ doctors may hate having in their waiting rooms. I was always a very inquisitive kid but somewhere I lost that – or rather it got buried beneath trauma and abuse and helplessness etc. I suffered for two years changing doctors, seeing specialist here and specialist there, doing heart, tongue and soul scan and etc religolously (deliberate word meaning whatever lol). And then gradually I regained ME…If any doctor sees me again these years, we get it straight it is me Marie Abanga we are talking about and hello I need to know what is going on, what is being prescribes and why, what are the side effects, what I need do other than pop pills for a start of mix etc etc
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A good doctor would appreciate your attitude. As I’ve said many times, a patient willing to participate in their own health care (which includes questions and/or concerns about recommendations) is a patient that will usually experience better outcomes.
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As a doctor in making, the past one year has taught me one thing. COMMUNICATION. It is so important to talk to patients, and specially on first name basis. I used to assume and believe in IMPLIED consents. Well now as an Anaesthetist, I explain every procedure in detail and ask them how they feel about it. Its made a good change to my practice and protocols.
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I’m certain your patients appreciate your time and consideration. It also helps to reduce anxiety and has been proven to demonstrate better outcomes.
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