About Dr Google

I was talking to a doctor friend of mine today, who has been reading my blog.  He said he enjoyed reading it, but he did make a couple of really good points.  First he said that I had given doctors a bit of a bad rap recently.  And you know what, he is right, so I apologise to those sensitive doctors who have taken my blog personally.

Second, was the message that he thought people might read into by the post "Dr Google", a dangerous message.  And he was bang on right to make the point he did.  He suspected that people might think that I am trying to say that one should not bother with your doctor and just self diagnose on the internet. Personally I think that that is a really bad idea.

Please understand that I think it is really important to research your symptoms, diagnosis and treatment options from as many sources as possible.  But the most important one is your doctor.  Doctors have studied for a very long time and are very knowledgeable, especially in their own specialised field.  They should be your first port of call.  After you have seen them you can go home and research their diagnosis and recommended treatment options.  If you disagree with your doctor you can go back to them and raise your concerns, or you can ask for a second opinion.


The point I am always trying to enforce is that you should not just blindly follow your doctor's advice.  You need to listen to them, then go home and research and understand the diagnosis and treatment options.  It is taking charge of your health.  Sometimes even good doctors get it wrong, and if they do, wouldn't you like to be in a position to question them about it?


The following link is an article outlining the dangers of self diagnosis.


BUPA warns of dangers of self diagnosis

However, far be it for me to write a blog like this without having at least a tiny little dig at the medical fraternity.  If you want to stop people self diagnosing.  Don't just tell us to stop but do something about it! First, you could start treating patients as rational, intelligent human beings instead of uneducated, brain dead morons.  Second, doctors could start seeing patients within a week and not three months.  Until next time, stay well:)