This
post is not a hit piece on doctors. Some doctors, in my experience, are
fabulous. Others clearly got their licenses from a box of Cracker Jack.
I'm betting your experience is quite similar. Our future, though, is
going to be extremely interesting, and medical care is not going to be
what we have now, or what we used to have. Here are some reasons why you
need to learn all you can about medicine. Any one of the following is reason enough. Combine them all (and we have them all in this
country) and throw in a little economic collapse or disaster, and you
have a perfect culture medium for medical emergency.
1. Climate change and SJWs (social justice warriors). Physicians
and other medical personnel have already been butting in where they
have no business, ignoring patient wishes for treatment, and interfering
(with government cooperation) in decisions parents make in the best
interests of their children. That's not news. But it's about to get much
worse. And that's because climate change, gun violence, and social
justice are becoming required courses in medical schools around the
country. Don't believe me? (For the record, I wouldn't believe me,
either. The idea is too preposterous.) Read the article here.
2. Affirmative Action. In
the decades before affirmative action, women and foreigners had to work
twice as hard and be four times as smart to be admitted to medical
school and make it through the courses. Now with affirmative action, we
have less competent medical school students who were admitted precisely
because they were less competent. They aren't playing with a full deck
to begin with, and we add in the social justice warrior nonsense
mentioned above. It's enough to make you sick, isn't it?
3. C's equal MDs. Oh, you're not sick yet? I can fix that. You see, there's a popular saying among medical students and doctors: "C's
equal MDs." While students and doctors had to have some smarts to make
it into medical school, once admitted, they don't have to do well in
their classes. They just have to pass.
Furthermore,
while physicians are required to take continuing education classes,
they don't necessarily have to be in their field of practice. A whole
lot of courses deal with addictions and the emotional health and
physical treatment of mentally disturbed people not happy with the way
God created them. Some options involve how to avoid burnout or running
their practice more smoothly.
Notably
absent, at least to me, was that there are no refresher courses on how
to perform a good physical exam. Once these doctors leave medical school
and their residency programs, that's it. There is no review of the
basics. Many of you older readers have probably noticed the change in
medical care. Patients used to be given thorough physical exams when
seeing the doctor, but that is no longer the case. I will be the first
one to admit that I hated those physical exams. I hate anyone outside my
family touching me. I sure didn't see much purpose in them for things
like bronchitis or strep throat. But those exams have their place, and
far too many doctors are relying on lab tests to do the job only a
physical exam will do. Here's an example for you:
About
eight years ago, my son suddenly found himself in great abdominal pain
every time he ate. It didn't matter what he ate, he was in pain. The
pain was less if he was lying down, and diminished a few hours after
eating. Over the course of a year, he went to five different doctors in
three different states. All kinds of lab tests and endoscopes and other
treatments yielded absolutely nothing. So, he was told, it was obviously
all in his head.
We
finally got him into the Mayo Clinic. His doctor reviewed all his
charts, asked all kinds of questions for about eight or nine minutes,
and then got him up on the table. He asked Jared to point to the exact
spot where the pain was, which Jared did. The doctor pressed on that
spot and asked Jared if it hurt.
"No."
The doctor asks, "Raise your legs," and he presses on the spot Jared had previously indicated, and Jared yelps in pain.
"Diagnosis!"
My jaw drops, and I blurt out, "No way!!"
The doctor: "WAY!!"
I replied, "That looked like first-year medical school stuff."
The doctor: "It is."
Me: "Like every doctor should know that. Like we shouldn't have had to come here."
The
doctor: "You shouldn't have. But most doctors aren't doing their jobs.
They order tests, and if they can't figure it out, it's all in the
patient's head. And then the patients come here for relatively minor
problems that should have been treated locally."
None
of the previous doctors asked any questions about what happened the day
he got injured. None performed a physical exam. Yet his injury was a
pretty common one, particularly among athletes.
(Jared
had an abdominal wall injury, a micro tear in the abdominal muscles.
Carnett's sign, which is the name for what the Mayo doctor found with
Jared, is used to determine whether pain is originating from within the
abdominal wall, as opposed to the internal organs. The abdominal wall
injury was treated with steroid injections and eventually healed. He
injured it while exercising with a roommate, who, at the same time, also
seriously injured his back and has had multiple surgeries for it. I
can't remember whether it was the Insanity workout or the P90X. Both of
these boys were very healthy until that day. Fortunately, Justin has
been able to work and marry; Jared sustained other injuries at the same
time that took longer to identify and are taking much longer to heal.)
4. Iatrogenic death.
That's a scientific way of saying the doctor screwed up. Medical error
is the third leading cause of death in hospitals. Doctors order
medications, tests, and treatments. They are responsible for the vast
majority of iatrogenic deaths. Then add in the patients who die after
being turned away or whose symptoms were dismissed by their doctors, and
that number goes higher.
5. Specialization.
Most doctors have specialized. They do not know how to treat conditions
outside their specialty. You might think you're blessed to have a
physician in your prepper group, but if he's an ophthalmologist, you're
in trouble if what you really need is an OB-GYN. A podiatrist isn't
going to offer a lot of help to someone with kidney pain.
6. Differences of opinion.
Even if you do find two competent physicians for what ails you, they
may differ dramatically in how to approach treatment. They will have
different experiences in treating disease, in what medications work, and
in what can be done in an austere situation. You can read two different
off-grid medicine guides written by licensed physicians, and find
contrary information. (Yeah, that's not exactly comforting, is it?) Now,
how are you going to feel if the real doctor attending to you (should
you be so lucky as to find one) suggests treatment contrary to what is
in your book? Are you going to be totally stressed? Understanding that
there can be different and legitimate approaches to treatment is
critical.
7. Doctors are just like other people.
Like the rest of Americans, most physicians do not prepare. They can't
imagine a breakdown in our society. They rely on lab tests and
electronic devices. They don't have hard copies of essential references.
They don't have supplies stocked for you and your family.
For
all of these reasons, you need to stock your own supplies. You need
references. You need to learn about which herbs will treat your chronic
conditions, as well as those that have antimicrobial properties. You
need your own medical references so that you can be sure your doctor is
doing the right thing, or you can decide to seek help elsewhere. You
need to recognize that students graduating from medical school today and
in the future may not be as competent as desired, especially without
their devices. And some may be outright dangerous.
For further reading:
https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2019/12/how-medical-schools-are-polarizing-tomorrows-doctors/
https://hub.jhu.edu/2016/05/03/medical-errors-third-leading-cause-of-death/
https://www.netce.com/courselist.php
1 january 2020
