The Incredible Shrinking Doctor’s Appointment: Is Natural Medicine Being Pushed in the Wrong Direction?
In their September 2008 issue, Family Circle featured an article entitled “The Incredible Shrinking Doctor’s Appointment,” written by Sally Kuzemchak. According to Ms. Kuzemchak, research conducted by Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland has revealed that patients only get 11 minutes of face time with their doctors per visit. This is shorter than the amount of time it usually takes to find a parking space.
The article was written to advise readers how to make the most out of their appointments. Advice included avoiding such common “time traps” as small talk. The article specified that “[a] quick exchange about the weather is okay, but going on and on about topics unrelated to your health isn’t.” Patients are also advised to create a written “agenda” prior to their appointment so they don’t go off track. If a patient has pain, he or she should, on the morning of the appointment, “take an eyebrow pencil and literally draw a circle around where the pain is – so your doctor doesn’t have to spend time poking around.”
Once in the appointment, the article warns that doctors are “focused on getting to an endpoint,” and therefore will interrupt patients within the first 18-23 seconds of speaking. To avoid rambling, patients are advised to prepare an “opening statement,” which should be no more than one or two sentences and should include an itemized list of problems and why you’re worried about them. According to the article, patients should not chronicle every little ache and pain, as this will eat up too much of your precious 11 minutes. Patients should do research ahead of time so that they will be informed and not have to ask basic questions during their appointment.
While Family Circle was attempting to help their readers by giving them tips on how to make the most out of face time with their doctors, the question has to be asked: How is this acceptable??????
This model, while standard in traditional medicine, is in stark contrast to the natural medicine model. A typical first visit with a natural medical practitioner will last between 1.5 – 2 hours, as opposed to the mere 11 minutes with a traditional practitioner.
What accounts for this huge difference in appointment length? Well, for one, traditional practitioners are under pressure from insurance companies to keep appointments short. But even more than that, the difference in appointment time is the result of differing approaches to the treatment of the human person. Natural medicine focuses on getting to the root cause of illness. The natural approach basically says- “there is a reason you are experiencing these symptoms, and we have to get to the bottom of why.” It’s only when you get to the root cause that the symptoms will go away. As a result of this approach, natural medical practitioners will also run a battery of tests not run by traditional medical practitioners, in an effort to determine what’s truly going on with the patient. Sometimes it’s exactly those little aches and pains that Family Circle advises you to skip over that actually give the greatest insight into your underlying physical ailment. Traditional medicine, on the other hand, is more concerned with simply treating the symptoms or manifestations of the root cause.
A perfect example of these differing approaches is in the area of heart disease. If a patient has a blocked artery, traditional medicine’s typical fix is a stent. But nothing is done to actually identify and treat the root problem. Why does this patient have a blocked artery in the first place? Does he have an underlying infection that is causing inflammation to the blood vessel wall? Does he have a genetic variant that has predisposed him to high cholesterol? Has he been exposed to toxic heavy metals that have accumulated in his body and need to be cleaned out? None of these questions is asked. Instead, traditional medicine performs the “quick fix.” But meanwhile, the patient’s underlying condition continues to flourish, which will ultimately lead him back to the same place or worse.
In our opinion, the amount of time a doctor spends with a patient to determine the root cause of illness is one of the greatest benefits that natural medicine offers. It’s at the heart of what makes us different from traditional medicine. Surprisingly, and sadly, however, some in the field of natural medicine appear to be pushing our profession in the wrong direction. Some of Envita’s doctors recently came under scrutiny from our own Arizona Naturopathic Board for spending an “excessive” amount of time with our patients. Excessive compared to what? 11 minutes? If that’s the standard the natural medical community is going by now, then it’s not too difficult to fall into that category. To push our profession in the direction of the 11 minute model is to destroy the very essence of our field’s philosophy and approach to the practice of medicine.
Here at Envita- we are determined not to let that happen. If we’re going to come under fire for letting our patients talk to us about where they’re experiencing pain without having to draw on themselves with eyebrow pencils, then so be it. If we are criticized for taking the time to educate patients about their condition instead of telling them to research it themselves, then so be it. If we end up building a relationship with our patients because we talk to them about more than just the weather- we happen to think that’s just good doctor/patient interaction. If we have to take the heat from the state’s regulatory board for letting our patients chronicle all their aches and pains- it’s a risk we’re willing to take. In our opinion, the quality of medical care in this country depends on it.
Resource Links:
Medicinenet’s Tips to Getting the Most Out of your Appointment
