do you think Doctors should practice what they preach?

Halloween Jack

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

i bet statistically the best GP's that get results are thin and healthy?

Much better to have a GP say to you "im on this and that diet, I eat healthily and run reguarly and feel great and so could you if you loose weight"

rather than a 20 stone one that says "yeah I know its not easy , sure im me own worst enemy meself!"

How would you quantify these results 'statistically'

Andy From Sligo

at least if you got the hard cold truth from a healthy doctor you couldnt walk away and moan "whats she/talking about they were overweight themselves, why should I listen to anything he/she says? - he/she ought to look in the mirror, pot/kettle black"

arch_stanton

Would you go to a broke financial advisor? I like mine to drive a Bentley towing a Ferrari

Halloween Jack

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

at least if you got the hard cold truth from a healthy doctor you couldnt walk away and moan "whats she/talking about they were overweight themselves, why should I listen to anything he/she says? - he/she ought to look in the mirror, pot/kettle black"

When you get that cold hard truth, you won't be thinking about your doctors appearance

doireannod

Icemancometh wrote: »

Doctors tend to choose less chemotherapy and other interventions for cancer, should that affect your decision if you get a similar diagnosis? Doctors have a fairly high suicide rate too; should that affect their treatment of patients with mental illness?

This is the crux of it. A lot of doctors have poor regard for their own physical and mental health and therefore we have high suicide rates. And that shouldn't be the case. We should look after ourselves as much as we want our patients to look after themselves and their families.

spurious

Andy From Sligo wrote:

yeah but its their job to make you better - if they side along with you and 'know what its like' what help is that gonna be to you?

Knowing what its like doesn't mean they couldn't help. It's very easy to tell a smoker for example to just give them up. Not so easy to do in the real world. I think someone who had been through it might have more of an appreciation of possible difficulties.

I once attended a young female doctor, full of her textbook knowledge, who clearly believed I was exaggerating the extent of a 'lady business' issue I was having. I won't go into the details here, as I know some are of a delicate constitution, but suffice to say, I knew by her face she had never seen anything like I showed her that evening. Next patient she had was hopefully less likely to be almost dismissed with her patronising 'I'm sure it's not that bad' remark. I almost felt sorry for her.

Andy From Sligo

I really dont get it these overweight 'expert' GP's, nurses whatever have their experience/knowlege, they know or should know what is good for them, they have the support of the heath service (most probably more than patients do) they have leaflets plastered around their surgeries, they most probably even have a in house dietician at their surgery - how the hell did some of them get so big in the first place with all that wealth of knowlege, and they get paid good so they would have to go out and buy/eat crap food ... and why would some of them get to this stage and think "this is getting out of hand now and i better do something about it"

Andy From Sligo

Halloween Jack wrote: »

When you get that cold hard truth, you won't be thinking about your doctors appearance

Maybe its reverse psychology - maybe if you have a fat GP it might make you think "I better do something about my weight soon or im gonna end up looking like my doctor!!"

Cathy.C

I wouldn't expect an oncologist not to succumb to cancer but when a doctor is overweight then I do think they shouldn't really be advising people on how to lose weight.

Robert Lustig is a good example of that. Says even fruit should be consumed in small quantities but yet he's a tubby boy himself and I highly doubt it's from bags of apples.

maudgonner

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

yeah but its their job to make you better - if they side along with you and 'know what its like' what help is that gonna be to you?

Exactly, it's their job to make you better, or help you make yourself better in the case of losing weight/quitting smoking. Their job is not to make sure they themselves are at peak fitness.

And to be honest, we all know that losing weight, getting fit, quitting smoking, eating healthily and cutting back on booze will make us healthier. It's not news to any of us. If you don't take that advice you have no one to blame but yourself, and shouldn't be looking to take the easy way out and blame someone else, imo. As adults we should take responsibility for our own actions

Stheno

maudgonner wrote: »

I've got enough maturity to know that people can give good advice but not necessarily follow it themselves. It wouldn't bother me a bit, and I'd be just as likely to take heed of them as if they looked like a marathon runner.

In fact knowing that they're human, with all the same failings and weaknesses as myself, makes it easier to take advice from people, rather than being intimidated by a 'superhuman'.

Icemancometh wrote: »

I think this is the problem. There should be no lecturing or preaching involved. You want advice, you get it, what you do with it is your problem.

This is it for me, on the very very few occasions where I have had a medical professional do this, they put me off, one (a dentist, not a doctor, whom I had gone to asking for a long term treatment plan to fix my poor dental health, told me it was my fault I had an adverse reaction to a treatment, and was quite quite rude.)

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

yeah but its their job to make you better - if they side along with you and 'know what its like' what help is that gonna be to you?

Yes to me it's far better than lecturing.

CFlat wrote: »

That's not a great analogy Andy. Mechanics always drive bangers!!

They do!

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

i bet statistically the best GP's that get results are thin and healthy?

Much better to have a GP say to you "im on this and that diet, I eat healthily and run reguarly and feel great and so could you if you loose weight"

rather than a 20 stone one that says "yeah I know its not easy , sure im me own worst enemy meself!"

I actually never said this, I've the overweight doctor in my practice, the skinny one, and the locum.

I know that for a serious issue the locum would be my last choice, and due to my personality the skinny one who is quite blunt would be my second.

If I was upset, then the overweight doctor would be my choice due to her approach.

Halloween Jack wrote: »

Well they aren't lecturing you,you Have approached them for professional advice,which they are qualified to dispense, it is immaterial what they do in their own time/with their own lives.

I go to my doctor generally with one specific issue.

It may have been my experience, but generally I find the lecturing ones are just way too nosey and intrusive and find something to lecture about.

I just want my referral etc.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Don't we all give advice we don't follow ourselves?
From advice in our professional opinion to advice on relationships.
Knowing what you need to do is easy. Doing it is hard.
Your doctor doesn't need to give up smoking to tell you that your chest is in ribbons and that you need to quit. His smoking isn't making you sick. Your smoking is making you sick.

Halloween Jack

Stheno wrote: »

This is it for me, on the very very few occasions where I have had a medical professional do this, they put me off, one (a dentist, not a doctor, whom I had gone to asking for a long term treatment plan to fix my poor dental health, told me it was my fault I had an adverse reaction to a treatment, and was quite quite rude.)


Yes to me it's far better than lecturing.



They do!



I actually never said this, I've the overweight doctor in my practice, the skinny one, and the locum.

I know that for a serious issue the locum would be my last choice, and due to my personality the skinny one who is quite blunt would be my second.

If I was upset, then the overweight doctor would be my choice due to her approach.


I go to my doctor generally with one specific issue.

It may have been my experience, but generally I find the lecturing ones are just way too nosey and intrusive and find something to lecture about.

I just want my referral etc.

Does your doctors personal health have any bearing on whether or not you get your referral?

Cathy.C

Great line from a Black Crowes song.

I don't trust no one who don't take their own advice.

Might be a triple negative though

Andy From Sligo

wouldnt it be nice to go to your doctor though and ask "how do you personally keep fit and healthy?" rather than taking one look at your overweight and disheveled unhealthy doctor and thinking "well its no good asking for advice off you"

I still maintain, if they are a really good and qualified doctor and I mean a really good doctor, they will see themselves thaey have a problem and will try their damnest to correct it so that they can be a good role model for their patients

Andy From Sligo

LexieOnRale wrote: »

Don't we all give advice we don't follow ourselves? ....

yeah but we are all not Doctors or in that valuable position dealing with patients or caring for people as part of a general public service are we?

Eimee90

Considering they are advising me on my health and my current well-being, no they can practice whatever ever life style they want, as long as they are competent health providers and good doctor, it's none of my business what they do. People need to cop on and stop commenting on other peoples affairs.

Icemancometh

So it seems I've spent over ten years of my life studying and practicing medicine, but the world would be better off if I spent it in the gym. Do I have that right?

Halloween Jack

Icemancometh wrote: »

So it seems I've spent over ten years of my life studying and practicing medicine, but the world would be better off if I spent it in the gym. Do I have that right?

For purposes of this thread it appears so.

in the real world however you'll have a life time of caring for and treating patients, positively effecting countless lives, whether you are 20 stone or not.

Andy From Sligo

Icemancometh wrote: »

So it seems I've spent over ten years of my life studying and practicing medicine, but the world would be better off if I spent it in the gym. Do I have that right?

depends - if by practicing medicine in the respect of being a GP and dealing with patients , whats wrong with having the full package and why not have the knowledge and use it, dont smoke, drink in moderation, eat healthily and keep slim and treat your body like a temple . Whats wrong about that?

Andy From Sligo

see im most probably weird, but if i went to see a mortgage advisor at the bank and they were 20 stone I wouldnt blink an eyelid but when I go to a doctor I want to go to a doctor that is fit and healthy and not puffing out of breath and breathing heavily because they smoke, drink, and have an unhealthy lifestyle because they are fat - the same way i suppose I would like to go to a Dentist with nice shiny white healthy teeth and all his teeth there not rotting and have sweet smelling breath, not halitosis

The Backwards Man

God will take good care of you, just do as I say don't do as I do

Cookie_Monster

I'd rather they could learn basic time management and time keeping than worrying about not having an extra burger or two. I've never had a GP appointment that was actually on time.

Andy From Sligo

in tests they do say kids are more likely to be obese if on or more of their parents are obese - you see the kids look up to and learn from there parents the way a lot of people like me look up to their doctor / healthcare whatever. See the overweight obese parents cannot dictate to their kids about eating healthily if the parent(s) are eating crap in front of them all the time, the kids be like "Im just following by example"

Annasopra

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

I really dont get it these overweight 'expert' GP's, nurses whatever have their experience/knowlege, they know or should know what is good for them, they have the support of the heath service (most probably more than patients do) they have leaflets plastered around their surgeries, they most probably even have a in house dietician at their surgery - how the hell did some of them get so big in the first place with all that wealth of knowlege, and they get paid good so they would have to go out and buy/eat crap food ... and why would some of them get to this stage and think "this is getting out of hand now and i better do something about it"

I really don't get why you need to be so judgemental and why you would judge professional practice purely on a persons appearance.

RWCNT

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

I goto my doctor to get medical advice not to judge his or her appearance.

I think Andy has doctors and personal trainers mixed up.

Seriously though, what's with all the chat about overweight doctors should know what's good for them, it's hard to take an overweight doctors health advice to heart etc. Do people actually need a doctor's advice on weight loss? It's not rocket science.

SEPT 23 1989

Very high rates of addiction in the medical profession

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

You'd better get yourself a medical ID bracelet Andy. God forbid you were ever in an accident and couldn't speak for yourself, it would be essential for you to speak up and let the medical team know that you'll only accept help from a team of doctors with a BMI of 25.

CFlat

LexieOnRale wrote: »

You'd better get yourself a medical ID bracelet Andy. God forbid you were ever in an accident and couldn't speak for yourself, it would be essential for you to speak up and let the medical team know that you'll only accept help from a team of doctors with a BMI of 25.

Whats the first thing an atheist says when they discover they are dying? Dear God, please help me. Any port in a storm as they say.

In fairness to Andy though I think he was more referring to getting general health advice from your GP rather then lying there with his head hanging off being fussy about the weight of the surgeon who sows it back on again.

Andy From Sligo

CFlat wrote:

In fairness to Andy though I think he was more referring to getting general health advice from your GP rather then lying there with his head hanging off being fussy about the weight of the surgeon who sows it back on again.

Thank you, you hit the nail on the head. That was exactly what I am referring to :-)