Health Care Professionals - gawd page

[LJH]

Kaoticturtle's rant about her RD mum and her horrible advice brings this to mind. Recently my husband had some minor knee surgery. It required seeing many, many 'Health Care Professionals'.

At the local clinic where his preliminary tests were done the nurse practicioner was very plump, the RN was so obese she had trouble walking. At the state-of-the-art surgery center in the city, with a huge staff of 'Health Care Professionals', from check-in to roll-out after recovery I noted exactly THREE people who were not overweight; his surgeon, his anesthesiologist and one of the nurses.

Now, these folks are fantastic mechanics. Artists actually, being able to repair a bit of torn tissue in a human knee with just two tiny holes and send the patient home that afternoon. I'm in awe. If I break bones or puncture an artery GET ME A DOCTOR! But for nutritional advice I'll pass. I swear to God if that giant nurse had said anything to my husband about nutrition I'd have snapped a gasket. It's like getting mental health advice from Charlie Manson fer crissakes.

[primalrob]

what i don't get is that these people had to go to school to do what they do. not only school, but hard school. that suggests a level of open mindedness and curiosity that towers over a lot of other people. why are they still overweight/unhealthy? maybe it's a lack of awareness, maybe they think they're not exercising enough, maybe they think they just can't get healthy, but something is keeping these health care professionals from behaving in a way one would expect to see in health care professionals.
i could be making a huge assumption in thinking that they want to get healthier. those that are though...it baffles me that they think there's only one way to do something.

[Damiana]

Knowledge is one thing, the ability to put it into practice and the willpower to resist temptation is another. I know peanut butter is bad for me, but it still calls my name, and if I didn't have the willpower to stop myself I'd be twice what I weigh.

[dizzyorange]

Medical school curriculum treat nutrition as a side-show, though this is slowly changing in some places. MDs, even general internists, are very territorial. For the most part nutrition is not really considered part of "internal medicine", it's the domain of the RDs. Just like your cardiologist won't prescribe you xanax, your internist doesn't really consider nutrition to be part of his job.

[Kymma]

MDs receive 2 weeks of nutritional education during medical school, and in some programs it is an elective. I work with doctors who are converts to the importance of diet in prevention.

You have to be your own health advocate. You have to do your own research. Most doctors do not know about prevention, only about treatment of disease.

[paleo-bunny]

Most doctors are not scientists and receive next to no training for assessing patients holistically. They are taught next to nothing about nutrition. Most of the trainee medics I met at university admitted that they struggled to pass their biochemistry modules second time around.

Most doctors are more akin to lawyers than scientists. The treatment regimes they advocate are based on precedent as dictated by the pharmaceutical industry. Most are too scared to step outside that comfort zone.

[Earthy Mama]

You have to be your own health advocate. You have to do your own research. Most doctors do not know about prevention, only about treatment of disease.

1,000x's YES!

[lorichka6]

I'm in nursing school and to earn points on my exams on nutrition for both nursing and anatomy and physiology I had to say that people should eat "60% carbohydrate, from whole grains when possible, chose low fat options and avoid things like butter and red meat". In class discussions I have been able to voice my opinion but when it comes to exams my opinions are "wrong".

[Earthy Mama]

I'm in nursing school and to earn points on my exams on nutrition for both nursing and anatomy and physiology I had to say that people should eat "60% carbohydrate, from whole grains when possible, chose low fat options and avoid things like butter and red meat". In class discussions I have been able to voice my opinion but when it comes to exams my opinions are "wrong".

I just cried a bit.

[ryanmercer]

Kaoticturtle's rant about her RD mum and her horrible advice brings this to mind. Recently my husband had some minor knee surgery. It required seeing many, many 'Health Care Professionals'.

At the local clinic where his preliminary tests were done the nurse practicioner was very plump, the RN was so obese she had trouble walking. At the state-of-the-art surgery center in the city, with a huge staff of 'Health Care Professionals', from check-in to roll-out after recovery I noted exactly THREE people who were not overweight; his surgeon, his anesthesiologist and one of the nurses.

Now, these folks are fantastic mechanics. Artists actually, being able to repair a bit of torn tissue in a human knee with just two tiny holes and send the patient home that afternoon. I'm in awe. If I break bones or puncture an artery GET ME A DOCTOR! But for nutritional advice I'll pass. I swear to God if that giant nurse had said anything to my husband about nutrition I'd have snapped a gasket. It's like getting mental health advice from Charlie Manson fer crissakes.

I have 2 friends that are nurses... one is about 5'5 300+lbs, the other is about 50lbs lighter and 3 inches shorter... they are forever telling me how I should eat... kinda like when "Doctor" Phil wrote a book on how to lose weight, when he was pretty overweight himself. *eyeroll*