Well this is a new one...

[Purple_Popple]

just returned from seeing my doc and when i told him the problem, he went onto 'Patient UK' website and printed me off some things to do at home to help alleviate my symptoms. No examination, nothing. I could have done this myself at home.

[B00]

Bet that's reassuring, lol

[wolf63]

It is just as bad when they grab a medical book and start reading through it!

[emmie]

Have you noticed that doctors, GP's rarely examine you anymore. I was wondering if i was imagining things, and mentioned it to several people, and they came to the same conclusion. Is it because they fear being sued for malpractice or whatever the term is. It would seem that what he did was pretty usual

[RATTER15]

>>>Have you noticed that doctors, GP's rarely examine you anymore.<<<

My Dr has got his finger up my arris before ive even told him what my symptoms are!!!

[Euphemia]

No they usually don't examine you. Many years ago they used to look at your hands, then your eyes and asked you to open your mouth before they started the consultation. I was diagnosed with IBS with no examination and in fact I didn't have IBS.

[emmie]

Ratter perhaps you are one of the privileged few.

[Purple_Popple]

Think i'll become a GP...just Google everything. It seems the norm then.

[B00]

Don't tell sqad then PP ;-)

[sara3]

I saw my doc re an eye problem.. he called in 2 other doctors and they were googling possibilities for quite a while!

[boxtops]

Many patients really like to have something to take home to read - people are far more likely to remember instructions and guidance if it's written down. If he can't give you better advice than that website, then why not give that to you?

[Sqad]

Listen to the patient and he or she will give you the diagnosis.....examination rarely adds to the investigation (although it should be done)

Some ABers feel that one cannot diagnose over the internet....rubbish!

[boxtops]

I used to consult my GP (now retired) by email - it worked very well. He referred OH for ENT treatment without ever seeing him at all, he gleaned from the email what needed to be done.

[Bambiagain]

I find that it is a bad idea to tell the doctor that you've looked up the symptoms on the internet - the self-diagnosis gets poo-pooed. And once, in the days before the internet, I went to a doctor and told him I had cystitis. When he asked "and what makes you think you have cystitis" (not nicely, I might add), I explained my symptoms, then he huffily wrote me a prescription for the correct antibiotics to treat cystitis. Nowadays I find the best way is just to describe the symptoms of whatever and let the doctor tell me what is wrong, even if I already know.

[joko]

i told a doc i had a lump ...an he just shrugged and said it'll be nothing...

come back in 3 months if its still there...

i said to him he should at least look...so he did, but at arms length, keeping as far away as possible... i made another appointment to see someone else...

ridiculous attitide and theyre heading for malpractice law suits...

he was nigerian and didnt speak very good english...i wonder if thats just how they do things and dont realise we expect a more thorough service

but then i began to doubt a lot more and wonder if he just wasnt as qualified as he claimed...

[Mosaic]

I got a netdoctor print-out last week at GPs.
I get the impression he's just relieved I'm not yet another raving junky or psychotic self-harmer. He's a good man but hoards of sad, mad and bad people are queuing up for his scripts. Then there's the hurdle of getting past the receptionist......'you'd better go to A&E' is the standard response to a request for an appointment.

[sherrardk]

I was really poorly three years ago and was passed (very quickly) around various doctors and heart specialists, etc and then caught one of them looking up my symptoms on Wikipedia (!), they thought I had Kawasaki's (something that only very young, Japanese girls get)!

[mrs_overall]

I have to confess that I am a graduate of the google school of medicine

[boxtops]

sherrard, slight digression but still clinical - how's Mr S now?

[sherrardk]

Hi Boxtops - his eye is better but he is having trouble focusing it (he lost the top layer of his cornea or something). I was really worried about him. He swears he now has safety goggles but I don't believe him. Thanks for asking after him, x

[rsvp]

re; mosaic point of 'you have to get past the receptionist first' - I refuse to give my symptoms to a receptionist - it's his/her job to make an appointment, not a diagnosis.