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Kwarlizzle's picture

A great resource, but never a replacement

I agree with most of what has already been said on here concerning doctors and the internet. The internet is a great tool: it makes puts information in our hands and make us more ready to take our health in our hands and challenge our doctors (and not take their every opinion like it's sacred) - and that is always okay. One might even say it's long overdue.

But I do not for one second think that doctors should be replaced with the internet. It's not okay. It's like going to a mechanic or something. A lot of the times, we can diagnose what is wrong with our own cars and fix it if we have some manual, or know other people who have had similar problems with their cars and how they fixed it. A lot of the other time too - a small problem with the car is often about a bigger problem we have no idea about. Going about the business of repair wrongly causes even more damage. Illness is like that too. There are lots of things we can diagnose ourselves for, with the help of the internet, common sense, and our own experience. But there is also a frightening number f things that can go wrong and of things that are relatively little but can easily become life-threatening. Doctors/nurses/healthworkers are trained to handle that reality and one is more likely to have a better outcome dealing with them than dealing alone.

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