Second opinion

Caroline — Sat, 04 Jun 2005 02:54:45 +0000

My G.P.’s practice is run by two part time doctors. In my five years with them, I’ve only ever met Doctor #1 . I assumed the other one had another office — I never really thought about it much. Turns out they work on fixed days and for some reason I’d never been on a Friday or Wednesday before, when Doctor #2 is on duty. The doctors are two very different types of people. Doctor #1 is a calm, somewhat serious man who quite recently suffered from burn out. I like him a lot, because he doesn’t talk down to you and recognises the ‘smarter’ patient. Doctor #2, is a woman of the chirpy sort. Big smile, seems to be in a rush. This is how they both dealt with me, their patient:

Me: ‘So, yeah, hypothyroidism… what now?’
Doctor #2: ‘Really, many people have it and live normal lives. We’ll give you medication and you’ll be right as rain.’

Me: ‘And, um, what are the consequences of hypothyroidism?’
Doctor #1: ‘You die.’

Carry on Doctor

Caroline — Fri, 27 May 2005 01:37:33 +0000

Selfish cunt that I am, I think Dutch GP’s should be SEVERELY PUNISHED (an old fashioned flogging springs to mind) for going on strike this week when I’m supposed to hear what I should be doing about my bloody diet, medication and what not.

I’m not sure what exactly they’re going on strike for, but I’ll wager it’s mostly about money. Apparently they only make TWICE AS MUCH as their Belgian colleagues and it isn’t enough.

Damnit, if I made 97.000 EURO A YEAR, I wouldn’t have time to lay down work. I’d be too busy SPENDING IT on good (artery clogging) food and an endless array of sexy gadgets.

They must go back to work RIGHT NOW, because I seem to be suffering from a bad case of Dooce-itus.

It is not mostly about money. It is about insurance companies getting way too much power. No more “beroepsgeheim” every temporary employee at the insurance company will have access to your medical history. And about the not being able to provide a reasonable level of care if they have too many patients and only five minutes per appointment.
You cannot compare the Dutch and Belgian salaries, mostly because it is not a salary. Doctors are entrepreneurs, they have a lot of costs an employee does not have. In Belgium a GP does not have to pay an assistant, for example (Belgian GPs do not have assistants).
I understand it sucks for you though. On the other hand: I would not give too much value to a GP’s dietary advice. It is unfortunately my experience that quite a lot of GP’s think they know a lot about nutrition whereas they actually really don’t. Maybe http://www.diabetes-normalsugars.com/ is useful.
Sterkte.
lena – 27 May 2005 – 13:56

My GP would refer me to a dietician, but I’m not too confident in their methods either. The latest studies contradict the conventions as promoted by diabetes organisations. It’s all rather confusing.

Thanks for your explanation.
Caroline (link) – 27 May 2005 – 14:11

prolific.org » medication

Second opinion

Carry on Doctor