One thing that& #39;s always surprised me about medicine is this interaction with patients.

Stranger (physician) meets stranger (patient).

Physician advises patient on something that they& #39;re the expert in expecting patient to accept everything as gospel.

Patient doesn& #39;t.

And rightfully so. Because 1) this is coming from a stranger. Even with good intentions we are humans and it& #39;s completely normal to process information. 2) The patient IS NOT the expert however it doesn& #39;t mean the patient is not capable of evaluating or comprehending information.

This IMO further displaces the relationship between patients and physicians.

I& #39;m pretty sure everything a physician does in their personal life they don& #39;t blindly adopt a service or advice. Especially in scenarios where they& #39;re not the expert.

So why are we trained this way?

Everything is oriented around TIME not validation. From documentation, to rounds, to office visits. There& #39;s literally a USMLE board exam that tests med students ability to consult with a patient in 8 mins or less.

Now add being a stranger and the power dynamics of information.

If anything changes Post-COVID it needs to be this. Stop optimizing for time and lets focus on people, trust, and patience for patients.

We have to get away from a society where we are more familiar with social media influencer than we are with a doctor.