Where There Is No Doctor
Back in the mid-1970s, I read a book by David Werner called WHERE THERE IS NO DOCTOR - A Village Health Care Handbook, published by the Hesperian Foundation in Berkeley. This book was written primarily for people who live far from the ivory halls of modern medicine, in areas where you have to depend on common sense and common resources to deal with common and even complex medical problems. Published in numerous languages, it is one of the most widely-used community health books in the world. This book did more to influence the way that I practice medicine than any medical textbook, because it helped me form a philosophy of healing.
I have a copy of David Werner's credo on my wall that I will reprint here with implied permission:
The 1970s and the 1980s were the golden years for the SELFCARE MOVEMENT, the idea that people can and should take more responsibility for their own medical care. I published my first article ever in Medical Self-Care Magazine (which, unfortunately, is no longer published.) I had the opportunity to meet some of the movers and shakers in this growing movement, like Tom Ferguson, MD, who devoted his life and career to education, not just medication, and best-selling author (and friend), Michael Castleman.
I can't help but see WebMD as an extension of this heartening self-care movement. WebMD not only encourages people to become more involved in their own health, they provide instant resources a mouse-click away and the opportunity to have a person-to-person dialogue on Member Boards. Millions of ordinary people everyday log on to WebMDs library of resources every month, and that number is growing exponentially. Ordinary people share their experiences, their fears, their pains, with other ordinary people. We are truly becoming a village that takes care of ourselves.
Most of the world does not have the ability to see a doctor today. They do not have the financial resources, trained medical personnel, modern medicines, or high-tech imaging facilities. But, yet, they survive. We who are blessed with insurance and access to medical care should take a lesson from those who do not.
Something has happened to the consumers of health care today. Insurance makes them feel entitled, and they prefer to relinquish the responsibility of their health to strangers. Waiting rooms are filled with mildly-ill people taking up space and time that could better be served by caring for the more urgent or acutely ill.
Many people are clueless about their hypertension or diabetes or even their cold. Some are so afraid to make responsible health decisions that they don't make decisions at all. Some will experience an earlier death because of they have not taken the reins of their own health.
Tom Ferguson often referred to this as the PILL FAIRY MODEL of medicine. Imagine the doctor as a winged creature hovering above the subservient patient, dropping a capsule of medicine into their eager hands. Not only is this model demeaning to the consumer, it implies that doctors are a different species than their patients. They are not.
Medical providers are not unlike travel agents. The trip you are taking is your own life and you invite a medical professional to help plan that trip. We can help you find the best route to stay well, provide the resources to combat some of life's illnesses, perform the surgeries, but it is YOU are the one taking this trip.
It has been said that if you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. But, if you teach him to fish, he will eat for a lifetime. As David Werner and so many others have shared, it is YOUR responsibility to take charge of your own health. As you fish for information on WebMD, know that you are among beginning to take charge. When you fail to just swallow what your doctor feeds you, you are taking charge. When you realize that your medical provider is merely a consultant and not the leader of your health care team, then you are taking charge.
The ability to change starts with one simple decision. Isn't it time that we ALL take a more responsibility for our health and stopped blaming everything on your doctor or the system? Remember, we all had a hand in the creation of this system that we now abhor. It doesn't have to be this way.
Related Topics: How Healthy is Your Lifestyle?, 5 Tips to Improve Your Nutrition
I have a copy of David Werner's credo on my wall that I will reprint here with implied permission:
- Health care is not only everyone's RIGHT, but everyone's RESPONSIBILITY.
- Informed self-care should be the main goal of any health program or activity.
- Ordinary people provided with clear, simple information can prevent and treat most common health problems in their own homes - earlier, cheaper, and often better than doctors.
- Medical knowledge should not be the guarded secret of a select few, but should be freely shared by everyone.
- People with little formal education can be trusted as much as those with a lot. And they are just as smart.
- Basic health care should not be delivered, but encouraged.
The 1970s and the 1980s were the golden years for the SELFCARE MOVEMENT, the idea that people can and should take more responsibility for their own medical care. I published my first article ever in Medical Self-Care Magazine (which, unfortunately, is no longer published.) I had the opportunity to meet some of the movers and shakers in this growing movement, like Tom Ferguson, MD, who devoted his life and career to education, not just medication, and best-selling author (and friend), Michael Castleman.
I can't help but see WebMD as an extension of this heartening self-care movement. WebMD not only encourages people to become more involved in their own health, they provide instant resources a mouse-click away and the opportunity to have a person-to-person dialogue on Member Boards. Millions of ordinary people everyday log on to WebMDs library of resources every month, and that number is growing exponentially. Ordinary people share their experiences, their fears, their pains, with other ordinary people. We are truly becoming a village that takes care of ourselves.
Most of the world does not have the ability to see a doctor today. They do not have the financial resources, trained medical personnel, modern medicines, or high-tech imaging facilities. But, yet, they survive. We who are blessed with insurance and access to medical care should take a lesson from those who do not.
Something has happened to the consumers of health care today. Insurance makes them feel entitled, and they prefer to relinquish the responsibility of their health to strangers. Waiting rooms are filled with mildly-ill people taking up space and time that could better be served by caring for the more urgent or acutely ill.
Many people are clueless about their hypertension or diabetes or even their cold. Some are so afraid to make responsible health decisions that they don't make decisions at all. Some will experience an earlier death because of they have not taken the reins of their own health.
Tom Ferguson often referred to this as the PILL FAIRY MODEL of medicine. Imagine the doctor as a winged creature hovering above the subservient patient, dropping a capsule of medicine into their eager hands. Not only is this model demeaning to the consumer, it implies that doctors are a different species than their patients. They are not.
Medical providers are not unlike travel agents. The trip you are taking is your own life and you invite a medical professional to help plan that trip. We can help you find the best route to stay well, provide the resources to combat some of life's illnesses, perform the surgeries, but it is YOU are the one taking this trip.
It has been said that if you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. But, if you teach him to fish, he will eat for a lifetime. As David Werner and so many others have shared, it is YOUR responsibility to take charge of your own health. As you fish for information on WebMD, know that you are among beginning to take charge. When you fail to just swallow what your doctor feeds you, you are taking charge. When you realize that your medical provider is merely a consultant and not the leader of your health care team, then you are taking charge.
The ability to change starts with one simple decision. Isn't it time that we ALL take a more responsibility for our health and stopped blaming everything on your doctor or the system? Remember, we all had a hand in the creation of this system that we now abhor. It doesn't have to be this way.
Related Topics: How Healthy is Your Lifestyle?, 5 Tips to Improve Your Nutrition
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