Teaching Doctors About Nutrition and Diet

[mbeezie]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/16/healt ... l?_r=1&hpw

Mary Beth

[JLH]

I like the concluding paragraph:

Added Dr. Chauncey: “You can’t just keep writing out script after script after script of new medications when diet is just as important as drugs or any other treatment a patient may be using.”

[tex]

That's troubling information, but I suppose none of us are really surprised. I hope that someone doesn't revisit this issue 25 years from now, and have to write a repeat of this article. Surely the situation will continue to improve, as awareness increases.

Thanks for the link,
Tex

[mbeezie]

I doubt it Tex. We have actually been aware if this problem for a long time, at least in my profession. In the mid-90s a study was done at UT Southwestern on this very topic and apparently the problem has actually gotten worse, not better. In some ways it's understandable though - there is just too much to learn in a short time frame. People need to move beyond thinking their doctors know everything or should know everything - it's really unrealistic. I think doctors should learn enough about nutrition to say to their patients "I'm not an exppert in nutrition but I think you need some diet intervention - let me refer you to a specialist". But instead they do nothing - mind boggling.

Mary Beth

[tex]

People need to move beyond thinking their doctors know everything or should know everything - it's really unrealistic. I think doctors should learn enough about nutrition to say to their patients "I'm not an exppert in nutrition but I think you need some diet intervention - let me refer you to a specialist". But instead they do nothing - mind boggling.

LOL. I knew when I wrote that, that it was merely wishful thinking, but I felt obligated to say it, for some reason or other.

You've summed the situation up beautifully, and I totally agree with you. Information is so easily available these days, that the volume of data is outpacing our ability to absorb it. Gone are the days when a "specialist" could learn everything available, pertaining to her or his field of specialty, and truly live up to the traditional definition of an "expert". These days, "experts" are more than ever, students, specializing in a particular field of study. Of course, technically, that has always been the case, but as time goes on, and the knowledge database continues to grow, most experts are actually functionally familiar with a smaller and smaller percentage of the total knowledge available, in their field of interest. Obviously, if experts are having a tough time staying abreast of new information in their own field of specialty, then general practitioners, have an even more difficult task, since they're expected to be be able to "tie it all together" for their patients, (which requires being at least somewhat familiar with the basics of all, or at least most, of the specialties).

I suspect that most of us here have been aware of this for a long time, but most people in the general population seem to still be in denial about it. As you point out, doctors don't help the situation any, when they pretend to have a working knowledge about concepts that they are actually inadequately prepared to deal with. I suppose they hate to admit that they are only human, and they are afraid that if they say "I don't know", they might lose the respect of their patients. I'm probably just weird, but whenever my doctor admits that he's not familiar with something, it merely reinforces my respect for him, (for being truthful/candid, because I don't expect him to know everything). To be fair, I realize that it's more difficult for a specialist to make that admission, because they are officially certified as an "expert", in their field of specialty. That certification doesn't convey to them the right to pretend that they know something, though, when they don't, and that's the gist of the problem - lack of candor, or in some cases, plain old mendacity.

I think that the primary problem with doctors addressing diet issues, is that doctors can't convince themselves to recommend a diet specialist, when the pharmaceutical industry has convinced them that there is a drug to treat every issue, so the solution is as close as their prescription pad.

Tex