Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Doctors need to do a better job in the PR department

Abigail Schildcrout, MD
Physician
December 13, 2013
Share
Tweet
Share

I use my computer a lot, so I see a lot of advertisements. Many of them are for the latest two or three items I’ve priced online (which I find somewhat creepy but fairly easy to ignore). Many of them are generic, casting a wide net. These generic ads frequently talk about “one ridiculously easy trick” to halve your car insurance payments, lose 50 pounds, learn a foreign language, look younger, or drastically reduce your utility bills. Experts in the relevant fields apparently don’t want you to know about these ridiculously easy tricks, and the fact that “local moms” know about them makes the experts “furious.”

The websites promoting these ads either put malware on your computer or make their sites impossible to navigate away from (“are you sure you want to leave this page?” and if you click “yes,” they take you to another page selling the same thing) until you give them your credit card number to subscribe to deliveries in perpetuity of the magic product. They are scams. They are silly. Most people know this and ignore them, but some folks are sucked in.

Those that are sucked in are either looking for an easy way to do something that takes a lot of work or they’re annoyed and fed up with those the ads purport to infuriate. That’s the aspect I want to discuss — the annoyance and fed-up-ness. I can see that people might want to stick-it-to-the-man in situations where they feel like they have been treated less-than-fairly. I suppose there are people who hated their college’s foreign language requirement, resented the homework their professor assigned, and can’t wait to do what “makes language professors livid!” Of course, if you were to take a second to think about it, you’d realize that a language professor wouldn’t be angry if there were an easy way to learn a language — a professor wants her students to learn! But the ad tries to get people to act on an initial feeling of animosity. I find it sad that there is animosity toward teachers (some of my favorite people in the world are teachers).

And as a doctor, it bothers me that people are capitalizing on an impulse to do something that “infuriates doctors.” Again, if you were to think about it for a second, why would a doctor be angry if someone safely and effectively were to lose weight or quit smoking? But the fact that the impulse is there says that there exists among some a perception that doctors want to coerce patients into doing things that somehow benefit the doctors and not the patients. The perception is that the doctor wants his patient to take an expensive medication (which somehow financially benefits the doctor) rather than the mail-order magic berries or green coffee beans or whatever other magic potion the website offers for the bargain price of $69.95 per month — a 70% savings off the retail price!

Doctors need to do a better job in the PR department, specifically by working to partner with their patients to help them feel more engaged and empowered with their own healthcare. Physicians need to do a much better job in the general education department — educating their own patients and doing outreach to help educate the population-at-large on topics like how to evaluate a research study and what websites are trustworthy sources. For example, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, run by the NIH, conducts and supports research on and provides information about complementary health practices, including use of supplements/herbs/etc.

What really infuriates the physician writing this blog is unscrupulous people looking to make a buck who try to drive a wedge between people and their doctors. I’ll post this blog later in Chinese, as soon as I finish the program that ticks off language professors, which I paid for with the money I saved on homeowner’s insurance using one ridiculously simple trick.

Abigail Schildcrout is founder, Practical Medical Insights, and blogs at DocThoughts.

Prev

Patient experience is about the people behind the statistics

December 13, 2013 Kevin 2
…
Next

Why Regina Benjamin was an ineffective Surgeon General

December 13, 2013 Kevin 10
…

Tagged as: Primary Care

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Patient experience is about the people behind the statistics
Next Post >
Why Regina Benjamin was an ineffective Surgeon General

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Abigail Schildcrout, MD

  • We have the same end-goals, but disagree on how to reach them

    Abigail Schildcrout, MD
  • A physician’s poignant election thoughts

    Abigail Schildcrout, MD
  • My job as a doctor is to take data and apply it to real people

    Abigail Schildcrout, MD

More in Physician

  • Why more doctors are choosing direct care over traditional health care

    Grace Torres-Hodges, DPM, MBA
  • How to handle chronically late patients in your medical practice

    Neil Baum, MD
  • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

    Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD
  • Why medicine must evolve to support modern physicians

    Ryan Nadelson, MD
  • Why listening to parents’ intuition can save lives in pediatric care

    Tokunbo Akande, MD, MPH
  • Finding balance and meaning in medical practice: a holistic approach to professional fulfillment

    Dr. Saad S. Alshohaib
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within

      Kristen Cline, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • Beyond burnout: Understanding the triangle of exhaustion [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Facing terminal cancer as a doctor and mother

      Kelly Curtin-Hallinan, DO | Conditions
    • Online eye exams spark legal battle over health care access

      Joshua Windham, JD and Daryl James | Policy
    • FDA delays could end vital treatment for rare disease patients

      G. van Londen, MD | Meds
    • Pharmacists are key to expanding Medicaid access to digital therapeutics

      Amanda Matter | Meds
    • Why ADHD in women requires a new approach [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 4 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within

      Kristen Cline, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • Beyond burnout: Understanding the triangle of exhaustion [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Facing terminal cancer as a doctor and mother

      Kelly Curtin-Hallinan, DO | Conditions
    • Online eye exams spark legal battle over health care access

      Joshua Windham, JD and Daryl James | Policy
    • FDA delays could end vital treatment for rare disease patients

      G. van Londen, MD | Meds
    • Pharmacists are key to expanding Medicaid access to digital therapeutics

      Amanda Matter | Meds
    • Why ADHD in women requires a new approach [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Doctors need to do a better job in the PR department
4 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...