I don't know if they all do it, but my doctor is quite open about looking up anything he doesn't immediately know in detail. He has a sort of on-line text book which I think is NHS, and we can look at the screen together to discuss symptoms and possible treatments. Even if a condition was covered in his training and he has encountered it before he can't be expected to remember everything about the possible treatments and their side effects, prognosis etc. for hundreds if not thousands of conditions.
You are of course right in terms of every piece of minutiae, but something as important as dealing with T2 diabetes? Surely yes?
Maybe not?
I get the distinct impression that many conditions are databases nowadays. So if certain patient data is punched into the software they use then certain flags are waved in the system. In other words the GP doesn’t need to know every fine detail as he or she has the support of a knowledge base. I saw that in action at my surgery in IOM, but maybe that isn’t the case in the U.K.
So, if a patient has high blood sugars of a level leading to a diagnosis of T2 then the knowledge base ought to be flagging up “Dietary Control” and “Low Carb” etc rather than rely on an old timer’s medical school notes and that wants to pump you full of carbs or drugs.
I do know that the specific GP I now rely on has it all in his head. He talks freely and lucidly without hesitation about T2 diabetes and the low carb dietary solution. I have also had appointments with him on other ailments and he seems, as far as I can tell, pretty good with those too.