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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>A feller posted to me offlist about the medics giving him bad advice, and how he went online and dug deep, figured out what was the best medicine, then did it.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I commented:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Well think about it: what do doctors have that you don’t? They sat in lectures, the old-style, and learned about skerjillions of diseases just enough to demonstrate competence on a test. But you have only one thing wrong with you. So you can research it and learn more about that one thing than they know, because they didn’t have time to dig deep on any topic. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>I see this as a major shortcoming of our medical system: the medics are far under-specialized. The specialists must start with a medical degree. Of course they are too expensive, sheesh. We could create a system where any prole with a high school degree could take a two or three year degree and learn every damn thing that can possibly go wrong with a foot or an ear. She doesn’t need a college degree and definitely doesn’t need a goddam medical school degree. She could learn all the medications available, would see everything and get plenty of experience, would know when she needs to refer the patient on up. We could easily employ plenty of people who would make a living wage and still end up with better care because we could afford to see them. We would make super-specialized medical consultants the economic and functional equivalent to the place where you get a massage, only you wouldn’t get the blow job. Unless you paid the extra.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>spike<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>