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Are you sure you're a Doctor?

Andy-Sev

Well-Known Member
Messages
303
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I had to visit the GPs for a non diabetes related issue today and saw a new doctor to the surgery. Well after we had discussed the issue at hand he took my blood pressure, asked me about my diabetes and asked to look at my blood sugar readings. I have no objection to this and he took one look at them and declared that because they range from 4.4 to 6.2 that I couldn't be diabetic. Amused I asked him what he knew about the "honeymoon phase" in those who are type 1 and type LADA, as that is what the experts believe I am currently going through and can eat pretty much anything without a spike, at which point he not only told me I couldn't be type 1 because of my age and weight but also that there was no such thing called the "Honeymoon phase". Fortunately I am on good terms with the specialist diabetic doctor at the surgery and demanded that he be called in to the consultation and this new doctor was less than impressed to be put in his place infront of a patient. It did make me wonder exactly how much time doctors spend learning about diabetes when they are training because going by this I doubt he had read more than you find in the home medical books.
 
Most GP's are far too busy doing private consultations outside of their normal surgery hours to have the time to keep up to date.
 
Things can get missed in the net or loop of things .
Docs are human - like us .
Pressures , stress , workloads , targets are on the increase too .

Training grounds for doctors are sadly time limited and some knowledge
does slip through their net .
Training isn't how it used to be either .

I know it should cover ALL streets/roads/avenues .
So ALL aspects of diabetes do get covered in their knowledge .
Sadly this isn't always the case .

I am 'not' excusing docs but this is how their training grounds don't cover
all and everything knowledge wise sometimes .
 
Most GPs are extremely busy just doing NHS stuff and cover an enormous range of subjects. I'll be honest I prefer the USA system in many ways which I experienced when I lived in the USA. You can visit a GP if you are not clear what the problem is but you can select a specialist (from the Yellow Pages as it was then) if you prefer; either way you pay. I don't believe the current system can prevail for much longer as there is no way GPs can keep up adequately on everything in Primary Care.
 
It's worth remembering the old explanation of the difference between a GP and a Consultant:- "GPs know almost nothing about almost everything while Consultants know almost everything about almost nothing." ;-)
 
It is a bad country to be poor in the USA.
D.
 
lindisfel said:
It is a bad country to be poor in the USA.
D.
Click to expand...
I absolutely agree. I was lucky and worked for a big corporate with private health care. I came across many who had been hit by unexpected health care issues and were left with nothing. I think we can retain the NHS but with some big changes.
 
I think that the test of a good GP is not what they know (impossible to keep abreast of everything) but their willingness to listen, to keep an open mind, and to look up information online in your presence if they're not sure of something. My GP has all these qualities and I never cease to be grateful -- it helped to identify a different serious health issue. The GP at the same practice who is the resident diabetes 'expert' unquestionably knows more about diabetes than the GP whom I now use, but won't listen or check anything, which is why I switched.
 
lindisfel said:
It is a bad country to be poor in the USA.
D.
Click to expand...

Recent evidence demonstrates that lack of health insurance causes some 45,000 to 48,000 unnecessary deaths every year in the United States.[18][19] In 2007, 62.1% of filers for bankruptcies claimed high medical expenses. A 2013 study found that about 25% of all senior citizens declare bankruptcy due to medical expenses, and 43% are forced to mortgage or sell their primary residence.[20]
lindisfel said:
It is a bad country to be poor in the USA.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_the_United_States
Click to expand...
 
I so much agree with desidiabulum: a good doctor is someone who is clever enough to listen and to learn from whatever reliable source he/she can find. And yes, I definitely expect a doctor to be able to tell a reliable source from a hole in the ground.
You are lucky to have such a good doctor, I am very glad for you.
 
I always remember my new diabetes GP a few years back when I suggested I might be a T1 rather than a T2 as I was struggling on low carbs, two tablets and stick thin she said I couldn't be T1 therefore I must be T2. Then said she had 500 diabetes patients so knew what she was talking about. I subsequently found that she had only just come off the Warwick diabetes training course. She is otherwise an excellent GP but just wouldn't listen to me. She refused me insulin but added a third tablet and a year later when she had forgotten who I was said I'm sorry but you need to go onto insulin with that HBa1C!
 

I am not even sure that we have a specialist at our surgery; and I tend to get more alarmed by the things they say, rather than being at all reassured.
 
My old Practice just selected a gp to be responsible for overseeing diabetics. In practice thiseant that he oversaw the reaching of DES/QOF targets for Diabetics. He had no extra knowledge of diabetes or interest in diabetes at all.
 
Doctor once said to my daughter, "your using alot of needles. Why arnt you reusing them"...

And nurse said to me why do you keep making appointments? I said, because I am 35 all the time. 35 she says, that's not high...

After watching nurse let a bloke goto bed on 4...

The only person you can trust is yourself!
 
donnellysdogs said:
My old Practice just selected a gp to be responsible for overseeing diabetics. In practice thiseant that he oversaw the reaching of DES/QOF targets for Diabetics. He had no extra knowledge of diabetes or interest in diabetes at all.
Click to expand...

I suppose we shouldn't be surprised.
 
britishpub said:
Most GP's are far too busy doing private consultations outside of their normal surgery hours to have the time to keep up to date.
Click to expand...
This really is completely untrue. GP's have to keep up to date, but considering the wealth of information and medical complaints it's practically impossible to keep up to date on everything. I wouldn't expect my GP to know as much as I do as I actually have the condition
 
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