Letters to the Editor
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nothing to replace face to face consultations
I totally agree with this article in that doctors need to be online. I can see how, as a doctor, it would be frustrating to have patients coming in who were all convinced they had some terminal disease based on their 'internet research', or who refuse life-savings vaccines because some forum told them to.
On the other hand, the internet can be useful in helping people recognise their own symptoms. It can also be incredibly helpful in keeping patients up-to-date on potential treatments and ongoing studies.
Many poor doctors do not keep their own knowledge up-to-date on treatment options (even though this information is now more readily available than ever), or they let pharma sales reps do all their thinking and 'research' for them. The internet can and has exposed these undesireable elements. How many doctors know inside and out about all the drugs they perscribe?
My mother is a type 2 diabetic, and recently discovered some newly reported side-effects of her meds. Her doctor didn't call her up and say 'hey you should probably switch to soemthing else'... she had to call him, after getting the information on her own, online.
And then theres alt medicine... when persrcibing birth control, how many doctors ask a woman if she is taking St. John's Wort? Many women use this herb as a way to prevent depression, but as it is non-perscription, most doctors wont even bother asking about it. It interferes with birth control, and the internet can give a patient that information.
Doctors need to get off their collective high-horse and realise the potential the internet has to help answer patient questions and go over drug information that they may not have time (or remember) to cover in the standard 15-minute appointment.