Doctors are not always healers

Unless you've long suspected that you have some serious health condition, receiving the dreaded news that you need medical attention immediately is never easy to hear. No one is immune to shock after being told that something is very wrong with you. So, it is always best to have someone with you when receiving such news.

And for a doctor to not even think of that before delivering the diagnosis is cruel, almost inhuman. A person's health is directly related to his life. Anything wrong with it means the need for treatment. Sometimes, medication is sufficient as therapy. But there are many cases when the condition is critical, and a person will need to undergo a medical procedure.

While there are many non-invasive medical procedures today - thanks to technological advancements in medicine - care is necessary before recommending that course of treatment.

Other than cost (and it usually costs a lot), the patient needs to assimilate all the information about the illness and what they will go through to correct, treat, or manage a condition.

Again, a compassionate medical professional must always consider the patient, especially if they have family or a support system, before talking about what they've seen from a diagnostic test result, more so if a major procedure is supposedly the 'only' option.

Doctors, particularly when it comes to being consulted by family or relatives, should not let their emotions rule after seeing images from a single diagnostic exam. They must never bully the patient into doing something before allowing the information to fully sink in.

And just because a doctor is related to a patient does not mean they are the support a person needs when receiving such terrible news. They have to decide whether they will be the doctor or a family member. Professional ethics discourage doctors from treating family members simply because it can be hard to separate any emotional attachment to the patient from being a medical professional.

A physician who flies into panic upon seeing the result of lab tests (and not even an actual diagnosis made by a specialist, who is of no relation to the patient) will likely cause the ill person to also go into a panic, other than going into shock. That is not a good mix!

It must always be the patient first, right?

And as much as a doctor in the family is concerned about a patient, he must remember to allow the person to assimilate the news about an illness, especially if it requires complicated treatment.

The first order of business, when seeing the result of a lab test, is to seek a second opinion. Unless it is an emergency and the patient's life is in danger, they should have time to decide on their own how to proceed and when.

It is never right to immediately schedule an expensive procedure (just because you have physician friends you can bulldoze to taking on the case) without letting the patient see another specialist who can be objective.

And it is certainly not right to make decisions when you are doing the consulting remotely without actually seeing the patient in person.

As uncomfortable as it is to be poked, prodded, and pressed where it matters, doctors need to evaluate patients by sight and touch before prescribing any bloodwork or other diagnostic tests.

It is despicable to manipulate a patient, who happens to be your blood relative, into agreeing to an expensive procedure without first suggesting to seek a second or even third opinion.

What if there are other dangers? Basing a decision on one ultrasound or diagnostic test is not good decision-making and could put a patient's life at risk.

And do not handle a delicate case without being in the presence of the patient. It is just not right. At this time when there are still limitations due to COVID, it is best to turn over the case to a fellow physician and let that doctor make the recommendation on possible treatment plans.

Options. There is always an option, even if it is to say NO to anything when the condition is serious and life-threatening. But a sound decision can only be arrived at when a patient, and their immediate family or support group, are given all the facts.

Open surgery or a non-invasive procedure is not an option. That's making it appear as if the patient will die tomorrow without undergoing either of the two. Unless it is an emergency and the patient needs to be brought to the hospital for immediate treatment, elective procedures can be scheduled at a later time, and after more exhaustive testing to come up with the best treatment plan.

And a doctor shouldn't say a condition cannot be detected unless done with a really expensive procedure, when diagnostic tests handled by excellent physicians will do the same thing at less cost and trauma to a patient.

Isn't it sad to have a doctor in the family but not have the confidence in them because each time you consult you get told you could die tomorrow unless you do what he says?

Doctors should primarily see themselves as instruments of healing. They are not God. And they should never make someone feel guilty in case that person refuses to follow their suggestions.

Compassion is the first step to healing. Without it, a doctor is just equal to the paper that says he or she completed a medical degree. Their purpose is not necessarily to prevent death, but to make people feel better, whether that is to treat them with science or medical technology, or simply to give them hope that things will get better by taking certain steps.

Physicians who bully their patients into doing what they want, without giving them a chance to decide for themselves, has little respect for humanity. And why would we want to be seen by them and entrust our bodies to them?

All images from Unsplash