Why you might be interested...

Have you ever been unsatisfied with a doctor you've been to? If the answer is no, then I am enormously proud of my profession. If you have, I reckon that the main reason is a lack of good communication (perhaps you weren't listened to very well?). Underlying this is the fact that you and your doctor both know what she's there to do, don't you? But if each of you actually made their assumption explicit, you might get a surprise. You see, I think where there is dissatisfaction a lot of it is down to these mismatched assumptions. I try to make the doctors more responsive to the needs of the patient/client/person. This, I suppose, is my attempt to work from the other side and make the general (interested, literate, connected) public understand a bit more about what the doctor is doing when they speak those mysterious words "do you have a family history of myoclonus" and wave magic instruments around before prodding you and proudly informing you it's probably a virus and you should ingest some salycilic acid and position yourself in a horizontal inclination (or take an aspirin and go to bed).

I shall also include some thoughts on hot topics in medical thinking sometimes with enthusiasm, sometimes with scepticism. At no point shall I be providing any medical advice to anyone on the internet. That way lies danger for me and for you, and you should go and see your own doctor (with a printout tucked under your arm - we love that!). Similarly all the views expressed here are my own, and are not shared by the profession as a whole, by my employers or by the governemt or the pharmaceutical industry. I reserve the right to shange my mind when I see how wrong I am. Oh, and I have no shares in any pharmaceutical company, neutraceutical company or private medical company. That's why I'm not very rich.