Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | advice for a soon-to-be GI doc!

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?

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