Posted by Racer on December 5, 2004, at 10:46:10 [reposted on December 5, 2004, at 12:35:10 | original URL]
In reply to Re:Vote! Do med students study enough pharmacology, posted by ed_uk on December 5, 2004, at 5:20:57
Yes, I agree that many doctors do not learn enough solid information about meds.
I also believe, though, that many of the doctors who do not learn enough about the meds also do not learn enough about, say, the differences between male and female reactions to meds or illnesses -- did you know that most women do not have pain in the left arm when having a heart attack? -- or the importance of body weight in dosing, or any number of other things -- THEY'RE JUST LAZY! They don't bother to learn this stuff, because they're lazy. I don't think you can blame med schools not teaching them enough, I think you have to say that some of them are more dedicated than others.
As for "believing that SSRIs hardly have side effects" -- I don't know that many of them really believe this anymore. Sure, some do. Most, though, I think know that SSRIs have side effects -- but the side effects are not nearly as severe as other classes of ADs and -- this is important, so pay attention -- THEY ONLY HAVE THE TOOLS THAT THEY HAVE. If the SSRIs are the best tool that they have to use, that's what they're gonna use. They have to make the best of it. Guess what? Making the best of a suboptimal situation is part of being non-depressed. And the more the doctors tell patients, "well, this drug really sucks, and it might make you feel a bit better but you'll be so miserable because of the side effects..." Patients would never recover, would they?
Keep in mind, this place does not attract the run of the mill SSRI user. Most people on SSRIs get them from a GP, take them as long as they take them, and then stop. They don't think of them beyond remembering to take them every day. We here on this board have tried more than one, with limited success, from a pdoc, etc. We're a different population.
Here's a project for someone: what is the average number of medications tried by posters on this board? I'd be very interested.
poster:Racer
thread:424724
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20041202/msgs/424725.html