Finding a new doctor can be a daunting process and finding a new specialist can be a particularly stressful endeavor when you have a health concern. Some of us suffer from a phenomenon called white coat syndrome or white coat hypertension. As I sit in any doctors examining room my blood pressure soars when it normally is extremely low…
After meeting with my new doctor this past Friday and putting a medical plan in place I returned home. I really liked her, she is smart, knowledgeable and possesses a great bedside manner. As we talked I could feel my transient blood pressure return to my normal 101/60. I was very comfortable with my choice yet I wanted to do a bit more research before I felt confident in my new young doctor. A Google search was warranted. I know Google is not by any means the be-all end-all of medical practices and references but it does have a place in obtaining information. There is a lot of medical misinformation out there as anyone can tell you who has “googled” symptoms. Google searches of symptoms almost always report the worst of all possibilities with some extremely ominous. I was simply looking for the usual; reviews, background information, education, residency, awards, research specialties, publications, etc... To my surprise, yet I really should not have been surprised in this day of social media, included in the top searches for my new specialist was her Facebook page link! Not only her FB page but images of her, her wedding, husband etc…I was struck by how much personal information I learned instantaneously and almost felt voyeuristic and a little uncomfortable! I wasn’t looking to see anything of her personal life but there it was as highly ranked as her education. What, doctors are humans? They are not immortal beings that solely exist in stark and sterile examining rooms and hospitals sporting white lab coats? They have vacation pics too????? Does it diminish their status? Take them off that pedestal? Or simply make them one of us? Does it level the playing field? Are we removing the mystique of doctors? Are we experiencing a more personable approach to patient care? Do patients “friend” their doctors on FB? Not this patient, as I fear seeing a college photo of that beer pong game that may have caused a missed class or two covering my specific medical needs. Timelines that remind me of how young the person I am entrusting with my healthcare and worse yet the reminder of how young I am not. I imagine there is no mention or guideline in the Hippocratic oath for the use of social media. Kind of like the Second Amendment could not have anticipated semi-automatic weapons.
