Going to Medical School to become a Gastroenterologist
#72188 - 05/21/04 10:05 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hi Everyone,
I will be going to medical school in January and thinking about becoming a gastroenterologist. My question for all of you is the following: What has your gastro recommended or done that has caused more damage than healing? Thanks.
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
I bet you will get many answers to this question. I once went to a doctor who didn't believe in IBS. He said I just needed to eat more fiber. I was out of my meds and really, really, REALLY nauseous. I told him what I ate (a LOT of fiber already, I'm a vegetarian who eats mostly cooked vegetables) and he said I was lying. I tried to explain that without meds I'm too queasy to eat anything, let alone fiber. No dice.
I dumped him and went to a gastro who knew what she was talking about.
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
Nothing! I have the best GI - he just didn't know as much about diet as Heather (but who does?!).
Anyway... Good luck. A GI doc WITH IBS would be a godsend and you already know ALL the diet guidelines. Won't you be popular! 
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
My doc only told me to stay away from foods that bothered me. After I told him I was living off of only bagels, he then prescribed librax, that worked for a about a month. He gave no hope and told me that was the only thing he could do. Hopefully, you will take what you learn from this site and become a gastro that actually helps people!
Good luck!
--------------------
-Sheri
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
Change jobs. Seriously. He said I had a preulcerous condition and I might have to consider a change to a less stressful career. WRONG!! I had IBS and all I needed was a fiber supplement and a prescription for Bentyl. I could have been managing director of Arthur Andersen by now. (Oh, wait, they went out of business...on second thought, maybe he did me a favor!!)
--------------------
Laura
Keep it simple!
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
let's see.... the worst thing i was ever told? hmmm... there are a few. here's my list:
i think my first doc was a little smitten with me and all he did on most visits was to sit and stare at me with a silly look on his face, blushing when i mentioned "stool" and "diarrhea"- words with which i hope he was familiar before he met me!? needless to say, that was not helpful.
all he managed to get out was: "it's IBS caused by a virus." when i asked him if it was going to go away, he said "definitely, in a few weeks." that was wrong, obviously, and i would have appreciated it more if he had said "i don't know, we're going to have to wait and see. sometimes it resolves, other times it triggers a permanent malfunction of the colon."
when he was able to pull it together (on my 3rd visit) and look at me for a few seconds and actually talk to me, he told me that i needed to "eat more." mind you, i had been sick for about 2 1/2 months at that point, so weak i was not going to work much, and all i could eat was toast and the occassional soft-boiled egg (now i realize that was making me worse!). well, DUH! i knew i needed to eat more, but was mentally unable to put food in my mouth 'cause i just knew it was going to trigger a torturous series of episodes in the bathroom.
i think the best advice i have for any new doctor is this: please listen to your patients and ask a lot of questions. they know what is going on in their bodies, they just don't know why or how to resolve it, and they often don't have the right words to describe it. your position as doctor can be intimidating! we're afraid to say the "wrong" thing- even though from a medical standpoint that doesn't make sense and is obviously unhelpful, that's still human nature! be aware that not all patients feel comfortable talking to you, especially about "delicate matters" that don't usually get talked about. you may have to gently pull information out of them, so ask probing questions, gently. sometimes patients are afraid to give a list of symptoms for fear of being viewed as needy, looking for attention, or "imagining things." lastly, just be honest but diplomatic. if you aren't sure what's going to happen because there's no way to know, then say so. give suggestions like books the person can read, support groups in the area, websites. (if you have a specialty practice, there's no reason your staff can't help you with getting a list like that together and typed up for various different disorders!) with those rules in place, how can the relationship itself go wrong?
--------------------
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
Doctor #1 was a kindly old gentleman who said I have an intestinal virus (?? for 11 months now??) - I would still be eating white bread, rice, steamed carrots, and eggs if I'd stuck with him.
Doctor #2 wanted to do battle from the get go. When I asked about fiber - "Soluble fiber, insoluble fiber, makes no difference to me." He did think that the virus had triggered IBS but offered NO help in dealing with it.
I have recently developed 10 gallstones (test in Sept was negative for gallstones so they have developed in the last few months) so my primary doctor is sending me to a GI to advise whether I need surgery or not. I am using this opportunity to try a new GI - a woman - Doctor #3 - hopefully third time is a charm!
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
Doctor #1 was very cautious not to over-test or jump to conclusions. However, very slow to reach any either.
Doctor#2 almost killed me! A military doctor who had to look everything up in a manual! Thankfully I only had to endure him until I received a referral!
Doctor #3 was a Godsend! Immediately did a colonoscopy, prescribed an antispasmodic, fiber ect.. took me off caffeine and bc pills and gave me proper diagnosis!
Doctor #4 was an Internist not a GI, but when I told him I knew it was my IBS, and I assured him I'd had the proper tests ect...he was very helpful and took me very seriously.
I echo what others have said. Listen to the patient. Encourage them to listen to their bodies. Don't overmedicate them and try to be understanding.
--------------------
God is Faithful!
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
Well, I have been to at least 7 different GI docs, I haven't been thrilled with most and down right pissed off at a couple! I agree, the most important thing is to LISTEN and not look at your watch every 30 seconds! Be honest and order the tests people need to make a proper diagnosis. Be sympathetic if nothing else. Reassure them that its not all in their heads even if you can't "cure" it. I much prefer just to go to my regular internist, she doesn't really have any answers but at least she listens and tried to understand. You will have to keep us updated if you decide to do this, I'm sure a lot of us would love to see you! You have experienced it, thats got to count for something! 
--------------------
Taking it one day at a time.....
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
I had gastric bypass four years ago and although the surgery may have been a factor in my developing IBS, my first gastroenterologist said I just "needed to eat like I did after my surgery". He didn't even suggest any tests. Needless to say, I found another one and am waiting on test results from my colonoscopy.
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
--------------------
Laura
Keep it simple!
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
1. Not treated us like we have a real disease, like it couldn't be as bad as we say - it's "only IBS" 2. Not known enough about what we should or shouldn't eat and what kinds of fiber might be hurting us, dairy products, fats, etc.
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
Yes; I feel no pain 
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
Thats great that ur thinking about becoming a gastroenterologist! Every time I go to a gastroenterologist, I come home crying because they are so unsymapthetic. They make me feel unimportant and like a hypocrite. You would think since more than half of the people that go to an gastroenterologist have IBS, they would decide to look up a few things about it. I think a doctor like this need to be sympathetic to their patients- and also admit if they dont know something instead of making things up. My doctor had no idea what an IBS diet should be and I ended up getting sick because he thought I should eat things like fruits and vegetables-without mentioning the solubel fiber first!. Well good luck at medical school!!
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
LOL!! Love the penguin!!
--------------------
Laura
Keep it simple!
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
I hope to help people with this problem some day. I too had received awful advice and feel we need to educate doctors more about this functional disorder.
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
I agree with the others, listening is important. I want to add hearing what your patient is saying is important. My first GI doctor heard that I had D & that was it. She told me to eat whatever I wanted, take Imodium D & just deal with it. (She absolutely did not hear anything else I said about having severe cramping, D & then C for several days). I told her I had already been living that way & livng with that was not a way to live. She prescribed some D medicine that sounded worse than having D. The D was a big problem at the time, but it was because I was not eating properly. I was expecting guidance on how to eat for the IBS. I guess I was expecting sympathy also. Good luck to you.
--------------------
Daisy
"Sometimes you are the Windshield, sometimes you are the bug".
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
Hi,
The worst thing my GI doc did was not listen to a thing I said, and then proving it by suggesting things I said I had already tried, or that had made me worse. She didn't offer me any examinations, nor did she know if I'd had any in the pass.
She was very dismissive of me and wouldn't even look at the food diary I brought, or listen to what I had tried in the past.
It became quickly obvious that I knew far more about my condition that she did. She told me to eat more fiber. She had no suggestions for me about diet, exercise or stress. She had only heard of one kind of medication, that I had a bad reaction to when I tried it before, and had to go ask someone else to find a different medication.
That's probably the BEST one I've had so far.
--Steph
--------------------
~~I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell-I know right now you can't tell~~Matchbox 20
IBS-D,pain.
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
Posts
