Doctors Don't Have Regular Doctors Themselves

A very interesting study comes to us from the November 27, 2000 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. In a study of 915 medical doctors, more than one third of them had no regular source of medical care and were less likely to receive medically recommended flu shots and routine cancer screenings.

Nationwide in the U.S., about 15% of people have no regular health care provider. This study found that 34% of MDs do not have a regular doctor. And it wasn't because they could simply use the services of a colleague whenever they felt it necessary. The doctor's own attitude toward the power of their own profession played an important part in their decision not to avail themselves of regular medical care.

The doctors in the study who felt that doctors could actually influence a patient's health were more likely to have a regular doctor themselves. Those doctors who firmly believe that they held control over their own health without medical assistance or who simply left their health up to chance were less likely to have a regular doctor.

By way of commentary, can you imagine your chiropractor not getting his/her spine checked and adjusted on a regular basis? We see no greater hypocrisy than doctors who are unwilling to do the exact same things they recommend to their patients. It certainly makes you wonder about all of those procedures they've been recommending, doesn't it?