What Do Medical Schools REALLY Teach Nowadays?

Singapore
August 23, 2009 7:53am CST
Any takers here? Especially some of you who may have someone in these schools? Better still, if you are a medical practitioner. I do not know about all of you here, but over a period of time I have been reading endless of accounts where doctors are misdiagnosing their patients at a rather alarming rate. Of late, we read about how a pathetic GP would diagnose a girl with tonsillitis to have the Swine Flu and this poor girl later died due to overwhelming circumstances. Then there was a 38 weeks pregnant woman being turned away for delivery at the hospital because some idiotic doctor claimed that it was not time yet. Well, turns out the mother went into labor and her husband had to help deliver the baby all by himself in a bathroom. In brief, there was a dramatic moment where the baby nearly died, yet through some quick thinking on the part of the father the event took a turn for the better. Not enough? Then, there is a rectal prolapse patient being misdiagnosed with IBS. Tell me, how you would feel when you are being given strong laxatives without a health condition that requires such strong medications. Yes, it ended with this girl being admitted into hospital every few months! I think by now all of you are already reeling and wondering like me. Yes, my question is just what did these doctors learn at medical school? How in the world did they pass out to be doctors in the first place? There may be room for errors in everything, but I feel that these blatant and fatal mistakes are totally unacceptable. Especially, when there are established records, facilities and establishments for them to refer and consult before finalizing their diagnosis. How could they be so grossly negligent and lacking in their duties? Instead, we have them sitting in some unnecessary panels to decide if a patient is morally and stature qualified to receive an organ transplant operation. Did the medical teach such subjects? Since when are medical doctors called to become moral judges? Is the medical schools to be blamed for such individuals? I just wonder. Ref: Tonsillitis girl died after GP said on phone it was swine flu http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1206908/Swine-flu-diagnosis-phone-scrapped-says-father-daughter-died-tonsillitis.html Father turned away from hospital with pregnant wife delivers baby on bathroom floor - and saves his daughter's life http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1207371/Father-turned-away-hospital-pregnant-wife-delivers-baby-bathroom-floor--saves-daughters-life.html Doctors said I had IBS - in fact I'd suffered a rectal prolapse http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1207203/Me-operation-Doctors-said-I-IBS--fact-Id-suffered-prolapse.html
2 responses
@jazzsue58 (2666)
24 Aug 09
It worries me that, with the endless "dumbing down" of education, doctors will be coming out of med school with lower and lower quality medical qualifications. first GCSE, then A levels, now degrees are becoming ever more dumbed down and PC. The only answer would be to take privately educated students into medical school - booooiiiinnng ... is that the PC brigade I hear, nooses ready in their hot little hands?!
1 person likes this
• Singapore
24 Aug 09
jazzsue58, Even if these schools were to taken in privately educated students and pass out doctors who simply do not meet the grade, then what's the point? Soon, you will find these ill qualified quacks in your local ERs. I do not think you will want this envisage to really happen. I just feel that the medical schools today should be ever more stringent with their charges and not simply for the sake of filling up quotas qualify doctors who do not fit the bill. It is just wrong and fatal at the end of the day.
@jazzsue58 (2666)
24 Aug 09
My local grammar school uses a different GCSE and A level syllabus and exam board to state schools. It's not snobby - a lot of average income households save up to send their kids there, as they know the kind of education they'll get. If I had the cash, I'd send my kids to private school as these schools don't have their hands tied by the government, the way state schools do. I do worry about the future. If med schools are having to accept low quality graduates the way our other universities are, the only option is to "dumb down" medical exams. Jeeze. Doctors are dumb enough already ...
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Aug 09
hi for every bad doctor and i know you are right there' are a lot more who are excellent doctors.sure having'workded'in the medical field myself I saw bad doctors and a lot more who were tops in their fields. I had a team of the best'doctors when I started bleeding rectally and had to go into the'hospital'they did every test and found out where it was coming from and'why and corrected my problem. they also monitored me all night every'night with blood tests every four hours and gave me four blood transfusions,they did their best and I was well in five'days.so dont be down on all the doctors.a lot of them really are just'plain excellent in allways.just a few can give all a really bad reputation,.
• Singapore
27 Aug 09
Hatley, I am glad that you have been well attended by good doctors at your end. Yet, I still feel that the med schools could do something more to assure the public that they are getting the good doctors as a matter of fact than some stroke of lady luck. I am not that particular if these are rare occasions or conditions but if you've read my references the mistakes there are just horrendous, which should never have happened at all. Also, most of these times, the mistakes are very heavy in price as lives are at stake here. Hope that you are better by the days and that errant doctors be far from your family and you! Cheers.