| First of all, in order to show my credibility I want you to | | | | treatments such as the site WebMD, then that's |
| note that I'm currently a medical student finishing up my | | | | alright. Information should be distributed freely and |
| second year. We were taught how to conduct | | | | learning about different medical topics is safe and it's |
| ourselves in clinical settings and in ethics of medicine. | | | | alright. The decisions of patients are totally up to |
| We were also taught different methods of diagnosis. | | | | them but they should not be diagnosed online. |
| Now, as a medical personnel, I strongly advise that you | | | | Physicians who participate in "Ask A Doctor" online |
| should not and do not ask for any medical advice from | | | | services should be cautious because if anything |
| online. I'm going to go into details with this post but | | | | negative happens then they are asking for a lawsuit. I |
| keep in mind that diagnosing yourself is not a good | | | | know of someone who had pain in the neck, which |
| idea if you don't have any clinical background. | | | | turned out to be caused by the way he sleeps. |
| Doctors go to medical school and they struggle to | | | | However, when he asked a doctor online, the |
| study, have sleepless nights, and drink gallons of | | | | physician told him it could be meningitis and told him to |
| coffee for a good reason. I'm not advocating drinking | | | | quickly go to the hospital. When the patient went to |
| gallons of coffee is a good idea it's just what medical | | | | the hospital, the ER doctor told him it's nothing and he |
| students do. Anyways, if diagnosing online, without | | | | should've gone to a clinic first. So, that's why up front |
| seeing the patient, was the norm for what doctors do | | | | diagnosis is best. |
| then we would have more doctors and the medical | | | | The Importance of Personal Diagnosis |
| field would be easy, but it's not. Most people say the | | | | An upfront personal diagnosis is safe and it can be |
| medical field is the most challenging area of study, and | | | | confirmed. An example would be if a patient explains |
| from experience I believe it. Only dedicated people | | | | online that he or she has a rash. Now, a rash can be |
| go to medical school and that's why they are trusted | | | | caused by many factors. Different types of rashes |
| with people's lives. | | | | are caused by different types of diseases or drugs. |
| Why am I so against this? | | | | An example would be lyme disease and systemic |
| Basically this looks like another online venture to make | | | | lupus erythematosu (SLE). Lyme disease has a rash |
| big money. Healthcare is no joke and healthcare | | | | similar to a target sign while SLE rashes are similar to |
| advice should be regulated. If doctors don't have their | | | | a butterfly shape. I'm not going to get into the medical |
| patients in front of them then how will they know what | | | | details because it's another page of medical terms, but |
| illness they have. A description of symptoms and | | | | there are many other factors which deals with lyme |
| physical can only go far and it's not enough to | | | | disease and SLE. The diagnosis can only be |
| diagnose to treat the illness properly. | | | | confirmed by a physician up front. |
| Now if the site provided information about illnesses and | | | | |