Reply to Do Physicians judge patients based on what they wear? Designer Bags? Casual Clothing?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
I will no longer disclose to these people what my profession is, unless I determine it’s pertinent to my treatment.

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I work with med students. One of the things they are taught (and then tested on) is to get the occupation of the patient. It's supposed to be in their history-taking. For better or for worse, they are literally taught this. [/quote]
Sure! But why exactly, especially if it’s not physical labor?[/quote]

PP here. One, to assess risks (one of the big ones that isn't physical labor is elementary school teachers -- you don't even need to ask them if they have had any sick contacts, you can just assume they have--they are working in a big cesspool of germs, lol; another occupational hazard is lots of travel). Second, they ask occupation because they are taught that conversations regarding diagnosis, treatment, etc, should look different depending on the education level/profession of the patient. But clearly it's not a perfect (or even all that useful?) proxy for the patient's ability to understand medical information. Personally, I think any decent doctor should be able to ascertain that, at least somewhat, just having taken a history without needing to ask about someone's job. But I don't write the curriculum. 
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Not all smart people go to college or have the opportunity. Best is to ask how the patient wants it explained.  [/quote]

It isn't about using college as a proxy for smart; education informs the conversation. You are going to have a different conversation about how a particular course of chemotherapy works with a pharmacist or microbiologist vs an art history professor or corporate lawyer. All are smart, plenty of education, but the different knowledge bases provide different context for the conversation. Ask the patient how they want something explained and most are going to stare back at you blankly -- how would they know? I'm in medical education and I'm not sure I would know the answer to that question. [/quote]

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