I know there are doctors and other medical personel on this board.
Do you treat yourself?
If so…why?
If not…why not?
Do you treat yourself? Sometimes
If so…why? Cheap, convenient, reliable.
If not…why not? Unreliable.
I don’t self-prescribe anything other than over-the-counter meds for colds, headaches, etc. I see my own doc twice a year or more often as needed.
Why? I lack the objectivity to see what’s really going on with myself. Even though I’m very knowledgeable about myself and my illnesses, I’d rather check it out with someone I trust about what’s really best for me.
Sort of…I take a few OTC meds I don’t necessarily need but feel pretty safe taking (Multivitamin, calcium and a Baby Asa a day.) I have never written a prescrtiption for myself, but I have for my family. I would not prescribe anything for them that is out of my area of expertise. For example, I wouldn’t have a clue anymore what antibiotic to pick for anything except maybe a urinary tract infection.
I have been tempted to start myself on a cholesterol medicine, but up to this point have resisted.Since we’ve got a couple of doctors responding to this thread…do you ever treat other doctors yourself? Do you find them to be easier to treat than the rest of your patients, or harder (do they disagree and second guess you, for instance)? Or is there no correlation?
I asked a friend who is a radiologist in a major university hospital, and he says he goes to the same family doctor he’s had since childhood. Even though the family doctor has less formal medical training than he does, the family doctor has probably seen more cases of common illnesses, and it’s considered bad form to prescribe your own medication.
I’m not a Doc, but I am a nurse (OB-GYN). I did do a vaginal probe ultrasound on a Doc I worked for looking for follicles (eggs), and she did my paps. I also used the ultrasound on myself just to watch my baby wiggle and later on to see my IUD. I felt these were harmless activities and I was trained for the follicle checks.
I wouldn’t take prescription meds without a real Rx from a real Doc, though. That just oversteps a boundary for me.
I’m curious about why you asked the question. What’s up?
None of the doctors I’ve worked for would treat their office staff, and although we got a discount on radiological services they did for us and our family members, it was clear we couldn’t use our position as employees to get test results. And the hospitals I’ve worked for had a stated policy of not allowing “hallway consults”, i.e. discussing personal health issues on an informal basis outside office hours. The feeling was, we have private insurance and private physicians that we need to see, and it’s not fair to the doctors to put them on the spot and risk liability for advice given on the fly.
And even though my (and Aaron’s) current doctor is willing to talk to me after office hours, she’d still prefer that I make an appointment unless it’s something pressing, like the time Aaron had an allergy attack at daycare. She just happened to be at the daycare at the time, so she was available.
Robin
Specialists often know very little about family medicine, their many years of training are not geared towards this. Any doctor would be foolish to treat themselves (except for very trivial concerns) since you can’t be objective.
Put me down as another doctor who doesn’t self-treat. I’ve writen a prescription for myself exactly once, under rather unusual circumstances (I was planning a trip, and found out the day before I was scheduled to leave - too late to get in to see my regular physician - that I might need a medication I don’t normally take). Self-treating is just a bad idea all around.