Comments on: The best and the brightest http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2008/03/best-and-brightest.html medical blog Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:50:49 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Anonymous http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2008/03/best-and-brightest.html/comment-page-1#comment-84364 Anonymous Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:54:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2008/03/the-best-and-the-brightest.html#comment-84364 You're right, the original Greek does not say "do not harm." It says something similar:<br/><br/>"I will use my power to help the sick to the best of my ability and judgment; I will abstain from harming or wronging any man by it."<br/><br/>Doesn't change my point. You’re right, the original Greek does not say “do not harm.” It says something similar:

“I will use my power to help the sick to the best of my ability and judgment; I will abstain from harming or wronging any man by it.”

Doesn’t change my point.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2008/03/best-and-brightest.html/comment-page-1#comment-84352 Anonymous Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:32:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2008/03/the-best-and-the-brightest.html#comment-84352 Doesn't the Hippocratic Oath say "Above all, do no harm"?<br/><br/>No it doesn't, now that you mention it. Why don't you try reading the Oath before you make ignorant comments. Doesn’t the Hippocratic Oath say “Above all, do no harm”?

No it doesn’t, now that you mention it. Why don’t you try reading the Oath before you make ignorant comments.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2008/03/best-and-brightest.html/comment-page-1#comment-84344 Anonymous Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:03:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2008/03/the-best-and-the-brightest.html#comment-84344 "I don't think doctors are pushing these interventions, patients are demanding them."<br/><br/>Not true - my dermatologist (a good one, in a major metropolitan area) has huge advertisements for Botox and collagen injections in his lobby. A friend of mine was told by her dermatologist that the wrinkles in her forehead were unattractive and she should consider Botox. (She now sees a different dermatologist.)<br/><br/>And just because someone demands an intervention, is it right for the MD always to provide it? I have read that some women in NYC have had their feet surgically narrowed so that they could fit into fashionable shoes. Unsurprisingly, they had some terrible post-op experiences. I hope any competent doctor would refuse to perform such surgery, no matter how much a patient demanded it. “I don’t think doctors are pushing these interventions, patients are demanding them.”

Not true – my dermatologist (a good one, in a major metropolitan area) has huge advertisements for Botox and collagen injections in his lobby. A friend of mine was told by her dermatologist that the wrinkles in her forehead were unattractive and she should consider Botox. (She now sees a different dermatologist.)

And just because someone demands an intervention, is it right for the MD always to provide it? I have read that some women in NYC have had their feet surgically narrowed so that they could fit into fashionable shoes. Unsurprisingly, they had some terrible post-op experiences. I hope any competent doctor would refuse to perform such surgery, no matter how much a patient demanded it.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2008/03/best-and-brightest.html/comment-page-1#comment-84343 Anonymous Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:47:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2008/03/the-best-and-the-brightest.html#comment-84343 Actually most med schools do administer the Oath. From a January 2006 NY Sun article on Cornell's rewriting of the Oath:<br/><br/>"The author of "The Hippocratic Oath and the Ethics of Medicine," Steven Miles, who is a professor of medicine and bioethics at the University of Minnesota, said there have been hundreds of revisions of the Hippocratic Oath since it was written.<br/><br/>He said about 80% or 90% of medical schools administer some version of the original." Actually most med schools do administer the Oath. From a January 2006 NY Sun article on Cornell’s rewriting of the Oath:

“The author of “The Hippocratic Oath and the Ethics of Medicine,” Steven Miles, who is a professor of medicine and bioethics at the University of Minnesota, said there have been hundreds of revisions of the Hippocratic Oath since it was written.

He said about 80% or 90% of medical schools administer some version of the original.”

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2008/03/best-and-brightest.html/comment-page-1#comment-84342 Anonymous Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:43:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2008/03/the-best-and-the-brightest.html#comment-84342 Doesn't the Hippocratic Oath say "Above all, do no harm"? You can't justify injecting botulinum toxin as harmless; surely there are complications, even if rare, and exposing a patient to harm for cosmetic reasons is immoral.<br/><br/>Who pays for it is another issue. Doesn’t the Hippocratic Oath say “Above all, do no harm”? You can’t justify injecting botulinum toxin as harmless; surely there are complications, even if rare, and exposing a patient to harm for cosmetic reasons is immoral.

Who pays for it is another issue.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2008/03/best-and-brightest.html/comment-page-1#comment-84333 Anonymous Thu, 20 Mar 2008 02:48:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2008/03/the-best-and-the-brightest.html#comment-84333 hippocratic oath?!! gimme a break, (in reality) physicians take no such oath...that's a myth. hippocratic oath?!! gimme a break, (in reality) physicians take no such oath…that’s a myth.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2008/03/best-and-brightest.html/comment-page-1#comment-84324 Anonymous Thu, 20 Mar 2008 00:47:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2008/03/the-best-and-the-brightest.html#comment-84324 Why don't you ask the patients who shell out their own cash whether they think Botox is an unnecessary intervention? And why don't you ask someone on Wall Street if all it takes is a little effort to make a lot of money? The best and brightest are not entering dermatology or any other medical specialty. Why don’t you ask the patients who shell out their own cash whether they think Botox is an unnecessary intervention? And why don’t you ask someone on Wall Street if all it takes is a little effort to make a lot of money? The best and brightest are not entering dermatology or any other medical specialty.

]]> By: Michael Rack, MD http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2008/03/best-and-brightest.html/comment-page-1#comment-84321 Michael Rack, MD Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:32:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2008/03/the-best-and-the-brightest.html#comment-84321 "And what kind of doctor offends his/her patients by pushing Botox and other unnecessary interventions? Were they absent the day they administered the Hippocratic Oath?"<br/>I don't think doctors are pushing these interventions, patients are demanding them. What does the hippocratic oath have to do with anything? It forbids abortions, but I don't recall it forbidding botox. “And what kind of doctor offends his/her patients by pushing Botox and other unnecessary interventions? Were they absent the day they administered the Hippocratic Oath?”
I don’t think doctors are pushing these interventions, patients are demanding them. What does the hippocratic oath have to do with anything? It forbids abortions, but I don’t recall it forbidding botox.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2008/03/best-and-brightest.html/comment-page-1#comment-84315 Anonymous Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:09:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2008/03/the-best-and-the-brightest.html#comment-84315 I can't help wondering about the potential MD's who didn't made the cut for med school but would have had a genuine interest in dealing with, you know, actual sick people. If you just want to make big bucks for little effort, go to Wall Street.<br/><br/>And what kind of doctor offends his/her patients by pushing Botox and other unnecessary interventions? Were they absent the day they administered the Hippocratic Oath? I can’t help wondering about the potential MD’s who didn’t made the cut for med school but would have had a genuine interest in dealing with, you know, actual sick people. If you just want to make big bucks for little effort, go to Wall Street.

And what kind of doctor offends his/her patients by pushing Botox and other unnecessary interventions? Were they absent the day they administered the Hippocratic Oath?

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2008/03/best-and-brightest.html/comment-page-1#comment-84309 Anonymous Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:06:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2008/03/the-best-and-the-brightest.html#comment-84309 Confirmation yet again that pay and working conditions are not competitive in most medical specialties. My experience with overachiever dual doctor couples with children such as the subject of this article is that the female typically retires, sometimes immediately following residency. Ivy League credentials are most suited to research and academic posts. In private practice, you must choose specialties with predictable hours and limited call if you want to work at all. Even then, you simply cannot have it all. Confirmation yet again that pay and working conditions are not competitive in most medical specialties. My experience with overachiever dual doctor couples with children such as the subject of this article is that the female typically retires, sometimes immediately following residency. Ivy League credentials are most suited to research and academic posts. In private practice, you must choose specialties with predictable hours and limited call if you want to work at all. Even then, you simply cannot have it all.

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