Firstly, I am very sorry for what you are going through.
As a training surgeon, I would admit that I’d have a similar approach to yourself. Of my colleagues, I’d only say one in four are particularly ‘conscious’ thinkers despite being intelligent. Many work on auto-pilot in line with guidelines, which is the safest legal position and requires less effort in terms of decision-making. It also alleviates the need for people to read and study the evidence base in detail. Whether through laziness, being over-worked or feeling legally vulnerable, individual patient factors are under-emphasised in favour of following the algorithm.
I would advocate for 1) shopping for a physician who appears to exercise professional autonomy; 2) empowering yourself by reading; 3) if you want to go off-protocol, bring the evidence to an appointment so your physician can make themselves aware; 4) making your personal priorities clear both verbally and in documentation, i.e. advanced decision directives. I am not saying the doctors or guidelines are wrong, but they are standardised and generalised in a manner that gives 80% optimal care to 80% of people, roughly speaking
Firstly, I am very sorry for what you are going through.
As a training surgeon, I would admit that I’d have a similar approach to yourself. Of my colleagues, I’d only say one in four are particularly ‘conscious’ thinkers despite being intelligent. Many work on auto-pilot in line with guidelines, which is the safest legal position and requires less effort in terms of decision-making. It also alleviates the need for people to read and study the evidence base in detail. Whether through laziness, being over-worked or feeling legally vulnerable, individual patient factors are under-emphasised in favour of following the algorithm.
I would advocate for 1) shopping for a physician who appears to exercise professional autonomy; 2) empowering yourself by reading; 3) if you want to go off-protocol, bring the evidence to an appointment so your physician can make themselves aware; 4) making your personal priorities clear both verbally and in documentation, i.e. advanced decision directives. I am not saying the doctors or guidelines are wrong, but they are standardised and generalised in a manner that gives 80% optimal care to 80% of people, roughly speaking
I’d be interested in a post on “how to shop for a physician” if you want to write more about it.