Reply to Do you judge your doctor if they're a smoker?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm about as serious an anti-smoker as you can be-- I support almost any and all public health policies and regulations to decrease exposure to cigarette smoke-- but I wouldn't necessary ditch a good doctor because she or he smoked.  It could make them especially good doctors for many patients.

They are humans, after all, and subject to all the physical, psychological and behavioral stimuli that the rest of us experience.  They, more than anyone else, understand the dangers of smoking.  They know the detailed facts, to the microscopic level, of what smoking does to the human body.  The effects of smoking we know through public service announcements, they know through witnessing first hand.  They see patients that they know and care for struggle to quit, get sick, and suffer brutally.  They see families worry and grieve.

I think they might have a real insight into how hard it is for their patients to make healthy lifestyle changes that others don't have.  Frankly, a doctor with a lot of physical self-discipline and a "just do it" attitude might have little compassion or insight when treating a patient addicted to nicotine or other unhealthy habits.

OP, if you found a great, competent doctor that you felt took good care of you during a sick visit and gave you no other reason to worry or criticize, then stick with her.  We should all be so lucky.[/quote]

I saw this on a daytime talk show- a trainer ate enough food per day, and stopped exercising, until he was obese (via BMI). He did it so he could better understand what his clients went through re food addiction and other issues. [/quote]

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