Does anyone else feel like its pointless going to their GP?

Sometimes I feel like that, when I’ve been in the waiting room for an hour and I finally get in and then I’m out again in less than 2 minutes with a prescription with a rushed signature down the bottom.

When I have a lot of things that I plan to say, I get in there and I feel like I have to blurt it all out really quickly before they hurry me on my way again, and sometimes I miss certain details and I wonder if that would have made any difference.

I was referred to a specialist ages ago, but I haven’t been yet. I suppose I should but I just don’t feel like anything will change and that’s why I put it off.

I’m lucky because my mum is a very experienced Nurse and so if there’s something up I go to her first, and obviously she puts in the time and effort to help me out. If she knows I need a prescription drug then it’s not so bad to just be in and out of the doctors quickly since she knows what to do anyway, it’s just by law that we need the prescription first.

I definitely don’t feel listen to by the general practitioner or the specialist. I told them for over and over again that I was using the cream they gave me on what they told me was ringworm, but it kept getting bigger. They just kept telling me to use the damn cream for 6 trips between the two of them (about 3 months) before one realized it might not be ringworm!!! surprise surprise, it turned out to be eczema. i was like, what in the hellllllll did i pay for that biopsy 2 months ago for, since you either never looked at it, or it told you nothing…

I hate going to the doctor’s. Around me, unless it’s an emergency, you have to wait about a week for an available appointment, so I normally just don’t bother and hope whatever is wrong fixes itself.

Then when I do get an appointment, as you said, you get the impression you’re being rushed through it without really being treated.

I know it’s not really that bad of an ailment, but I’ve been addicted to nose spray (to clear sinuses out) for about 5 years now. I’ve been to the doc multiple times for help and advice getting off it but they don’t seem to care. I thought maybe there’s not much that can be done about it, but then I searched around a bit and found that it’s a really common issue and can be quite easily fixed by being referred to a specialist. I still have yet to go back and try to talk them into that.

I feel very lucky. I’ve had docs like those you’re describing in the past, but the one I have now is freakin’ awesome! I’ve been going there for years, so I have the routine down pat. If I have lots to talk about, I make them aware of that when I make my appointment and they’ll schedule extra time. When I’ve been without insurance, he gives me as many free sample drugs as he can so I don’t have to pay for my prescriptions out of pocket. He has always gone the extra mile for me, even calling me at home one time at 9:00PM to discuss some new research he’d seen about one of my problems. My doc ROCKS!

@augustlan: You are very lucky. That appears to be rare these day.

My wife and I supposedly have one of the top docs in Boston (according to Boston Magazine) – and while he may be uber-smart, his bedside manner is non-existent. He rushes you through the appointment, answers few questions, and thinks that all issues amount to nothing. “You have nothing to worry about”. He also will not take calls or call you back.

The only saving grace is his staff. They are awesome and very helpful.

My wife has started seeing this old timer at Mass. Eye and Ear who is fantastic. He is extremely thorough, spends oodles of time with you, answers every question and asks follow up questions of his own. HE actually walked her to the lab for a test and met her in the waiting room when she came out.

I may start going to him myself. In the meantime I have started seeing an acupuncturist who is doing me wonders.

All the time. HMOs fucken suck! But it’s paid for, so what am I supposed to do?

My former GP was an authoritarian twit. Going to see him was an exercise in masochism. One person’s “rushed through it” is another person’s “efficient service”—that doesn’t bother me, because if there’s something I’m not comfortable with, I’m more than assertive enough to speak up. But when I ask a question about why he’s recommending something, I don’t want an answer that boils down to “because I’m the doctor and I say so.”

I’m currently looking for a new GP because of that. I have my first appointment with one tomorrow, and he comes well recommended.

I have a good doctor. We chose him because other people said “you can talk to him”. I hope I die before he does.
I take a written list of concerns, unless I’m in an emergency, and I tell him I have (n) items on my list when he comes into the room.
I like Aug’s strategy of telling appointment staff that she needs time to get everything addressed.

The problems people detail here (whether in the US or elsewhere) are inherent to the system. Salaried doctors in the US and UK (for example) are overworked by their “bosses” (i.e. you have 25–30 patients scheduled for an 8 hour day), and doctors who have to bill insurance companies get paid so little per visit that they need to see lots of patients just to break even (like what I mentioned above). So, while everyone wants to chat for an hour with their doctor, this is just not economically feasible for the doctors and staff (clerks, nurses, administrators, etc.). Few people realize that they pay their mechanic or home repair person more on an hourly basis than their doctor.

my heart bleeds for them….

Try 4 years of college, 4+ years of medical school, 3–7 years of residency, 3–7 years of fellowship, and then come back with your sarcasm.

and many score years of a bl**dy good income…

I appreciate the work that doctors put into becoming qualified…I really do…but come on! they do get paid incredibly well (well…. they do here in the UK) and they did choose to go into that profession in the first place…surely they should give us patients the respect we deserve and the treatment we deserve…that all I was trying to say….

:-)

You fail to understand the problem. It isn’t like doctors don’t want to do that, but the economic pressures placed on the whole health care system preclude that from happening. Here’s a simple experiment: try spending 30 minutes with 25–30 people in series. As you can see, that translates into a 12–15 hour workday, every day (with no breaks).

So, what are the shortcuts? The otherwise well patients who have minor complaints get short visits, while the sicker patients with more serious complaints or more complicated problems get longer visits. That is why when someone comes in with a minor cough (for example), the doctor might do a rudimentary history and physical, and (barring any worrying signs) send the person on their way with a script for a cough medicine. Conversely, the person who complains of a bloody cough would get a longer evaluation.

Maybe it’s doctors that need to lead the healthcare revolution. Maybe the AMA could draft some sort of rules about patient numbers, daily work hours, etc.