I Wish… I wish I live in a country devoid of strife, fear, hate and injustice; I wish I live in a country whose, health institution is healthy; I wish I live in a country whose health sector is managed by professional Health Administrators and Mangers; I wish I live in a country where health professionals respect each others profession and do not trespass; I wish I live in a country where an organize body of health managers handle the recruitment of health professional for Federal Medical Institutions; I wish I live in a country where every health professional have equal opportunity for advanced practical studies and consultancy; I wish I live in a country where cottage hospitals replace health care centers; I wish I live in a country where Doctors and every other professional are deployed to these cottage hospitals in the villages; Then there will be job for every health professional graduate and brain drain will be reduced; Then mother and infant mortality rate will practically and realistically reduce; The quality of our health services can now compete with that of India, UK, Germany and USA; Then we can lend health service support to our neighbours, and Afghanistan and Pakistan who yearn for it; Then we can provide health service to medical tourist seeking medical attention, and meaningfully increase our national revenue; But if wishes were gold, would any be poor on earth? It is time young men and women of health professions to rise up to the challenge of our decaying health sector; It is time young men and women of vision to challenge this monkey hand in the soup that is gradually turning to a human hand; It is time to rise up young professional even if our old men and women who dream refuses to wake up; It is time to say "NO" to this misnomer and bring sanity to Nigerian health sector; The health sector and indeed Nigeria belongs to us, do we fold our hands and let the old men who naturally are close to their grave rubbish it for us? This is a clarion call for all Nigerian young men and women; It is a clarion call for Doctors who maliciously trespass their field of study while Nigerians die daily in great numbers and are buried without any cause of death recorded and preventive measures put in place; It is a clarion call for Pharmacists who have been relegated to drug dispensary in the hospitals, while their jobs have been overtaken by ill-trained chemist; It is a clarion call for Medical Laboratory Scientists who are gradually being pushed out of the medical practices; It is a clarion call for Lawyers whose duty it is to checkmate and prosecute malpractices and professional excesses; It is a clarion call for our politicians and leaders whose personal interest has beclouded their vision to the decay in health sector and by proxy to others; A country with a sick health sector is like a man with a terminal heart and or kidney disease; And like such a man, productivity and development is only but a mirage!!!     Ukwueze Ikenna E. D. 12/03/2013

Addmore2so: I Wish… I wish I live in a country devoid of strife, fear, hate and injustice; I wish I live in a country whose, health institution is healthy; I wish I live in a country whose health sector is managed by professional Health Administrators and Mangers; I wish I live in a country where health professionals respect each others profession and do not trespass; I wish I live in a country where an organize body of health managers handle the recruitment of health professional for Federal Medical Institutions; I wish I live in a country where every health professional have equal opportunity for advanced practical studies and consultancy; I wish I live in a country where cottage hospitals replace health care centers; I wish I live in a country where Doctors and every other professional are deployed to these cottage hospitals in the villages; Then there will be job for every health professional graduate and brain drain will be reduced; Then mother and infant mortality rate will practically and realistically reduce; The quality of our health services can now compete with that of India, UK, Germany and USA; Then we can lend health service support to our neighbours, and Afghanistan and Pakistan who yearn for it; Then we can provide health service to medical tourist seeking medical attention, and meaningfully increase our national revenue; But if wishes were gold, would any be poor on earth? It is time young men and women of health professions to rise up to the challenge of our decaying health sector; It is time young men and women of vision to challenge this monkey hand in the soup that is gradually turning to a human hand; It is time to rise up young professional even if our old men and women who dream refuses to wake up; It is time to say "NO" to this misnomer and bring sanity to Nigerian health sector; The health sector and indeed Nigeria belongs to us, do we fold our hands and let the old men who naturally are close to their grave rubbish it for us? This is a clarion call for all Nigerian young men and women; It is a clarion call for Doctors who maliciously trespass their field of study while Nigerians die daily in great numbers and are buried without any cause of death recorded and preventive measures put in place; It is a clarion call for Pharmacists who have been relegated to drug dispensary in the hospitals, while their jobs have been overtaken by ill-trained chemist; It is a clarion call for Medical Laboratory Scientists who are gradually being pushed out of the medical practices; It is a clarion call for Lawyers whose duty it is to checkmate and prosecute malpractices and professional excesses; It is a clarion call for our politicians and leaders whose personal interest has beclouded their vision to the decay in health sector and by proxy to others; A country with a sick health sector is like a man with a terminal heart and or kidney disease; And like such a man, productivity and development is only but a mirage!!!     Ukwueze Ikenna E. D. 12/03/2013

God bless U son of man!!!

speedyboi: See question. Why not? That's how it is in other countries. Not like a country filled with backward people called Nigerians where Doctors and their overbloated ego are seen ås ontop of the world (funny enough, most of them know nothing). Medicine is just like everyother courses in health & Clinical sciences; they shouldn't have any special rights.
But, Nigerians are full of stereotypes anyways


@Bolded, So is Nursing.

You re saying this because you don't know wat d medical student pass tru.

According to d words of Prof. Festus Iyayi, d greatest problem facing d Nigerian health sector is PROFESSIONISM as opposed to PROFESSIONALISM.
PROFESSIONISM, just lyk RACISM(which is exaltin one race over d other, bringin d South African Apathied back to memory) is exaltin one profession over d other while makin others look irrelevent and useless while PROFESSIONALISM is d practice of a profession in a way to carry others along in d best interest of others.

In a team of dos who perform surgery, d doctors WILL always head,but when it comes to a Health team,ANY MEMBER OF THE TEAM WITH ADMINISTRATIVE SKILL SHOULD HEAD D TEAM. D problem with doctors is PROFESSIONISM and ds is d reason for Nigeria's poor health indices. Until d medical dpctors see other members of d team as EQUALLY IMPORTANT, d country's health sector has a long way to go.

And finally,d Nigeria health sector need to learn frm d Barcelona saga, when u build ur team aroound a single individual u ar bound to fail someday very soon, and when u fall , u fall yakata

Abegie...Dnt come and feed off other peoples ignorance to drive home your point. The chief diagnostics in an hospital is the doctor. In fact that is really the crux of what doctors are trained to do. Diagnose and suggest treatment. It doesn't take an experience doctor a lot to knw ur ailment. I have seen it countless number of times. Some doctors are so good that they can tell the most likely disease just by listening to the patients and checking the symptoms. It is only for those hopeless or difficult to diagnose cases that a lab test is required. A medlab scientist can never be a doctor. You were trained to detect micro-orgainsims that cause diseases using a microscope. Medicine and surgery is a more total approach. There are millions of reasons permutations and combinations that can result into a sickness. This is what doctors have been trained to do.

Samdurance:

Sorry, Diagnosis is done by a Medical Laboratory Scientist

Yeeereeeeeeeeeee! See something . U guys no go kill person. Na waa o.

Fellonigerians: This is the problem with Nigerians... Every profession wants to protect anything they deem their own... in doing this, no one looks at quality of service or efficiency... I dont care who manages a Hospital, as long as it is managed well... Am shocked that the Minister compared the CJN (the head of the judiciary) to the head of a hospital...

Doctors should be more worried about the increasing number of people dying in hospitals due to negligence and gross misconduct, instead of who administers hospital... In addition to people that are dying cos hospitals refuse to treat them cos they dont have police extract...

Doctors should focus more on their oath and not on who runs a hospital...

My friend, what is wrong with the analogy? Biko, tell me. Futhermore, is running the facilities not part of having a grip on the system to ensure the indices are reduced? Ha!

I strongly believe that only a doctor shld head health institutions.we all knw the truth.

sinie:
Excuse me. I know PLENTY about the medical field and I will say it again and again. If not for pharmacist's intervention most patients will go home with the drugs prescribed for the and 'poison' hemselves. If the pharmacist should document ever medication Error the doctors make in his. prescription. Ranging from wrong drug to wrong dose and interactions, I swear nobody will ever take a drug prescribed by a doctor without a pharmacist's advice. Just yesterday my sister was just talking casually about the drug she was placed on and I noticed that she taking the same drug both IV and tablet. I asked her to ask the doctor when he was giving her both IV and tablet @ the same time and when she asked him he said it was a 'mistake'. If that hospital was a standard hospital with a pharmacist on duty will such a 'mistake' have been made? That's just one out of millions of examples of ways pharms help doctors prevent 'mistakes' everyday. And you are claiming they are more knowledgeable aboùt drugs than pharms. Don't display your ignorance...
D

You will need pharmacokinetics to understand why such could be given though your doc could not hold his own hence he called it a mistake, nothing 'erroneuos' about that in some cases oga.

sinie:
Its no more generalisation and definitely not Minute if its constant. I have worked in a teaching hospitals and don't even let me start on the mistakes I see EVERYDAY else we won't leave here. Your fellow doctors come into my pharmacy and ask ME what to write in their prescription. And YES I change doctors prescription ALL THE TIME. And if I feel the drug is wrong and the doctor refused to change it I DO NOT dispense it. Am not going to be responsible for causing a patient harm because of a doctor's arrogance. Am not going to say the name of the hospital I work cos of the anonymity of this forum but we pharmacist go to your clinical meetings to TEACH u guys HOW to write prescriptions. The clinical presentation from companies is just pharmacits teaching doctors about new drugs and advancements in medicine. When I worked in OnG pharmacy I TELL some ignorant doctors EVERYDAY what drugs and antibiotic a woman for CS should take. And yes if a doctors gives me a prescription that's wrong I tell him to change it. I don't care if his 'consultant' was the one that wrote it. Then he should tell his 'consultant' to change it.
Now all these is deviating from the issue which is 'should non doctors head hospitals' and the answer is a big yes. Don't confuse us with wikepidea entries. No one expects a nurse to be a Chief medical Officer or a doc to be a Chief Nursing officer. But who should he the hospital administrator. The 'CEO' of the hospital? the answer? Anyone with good administrative and managerial training. Shikena!!

Oh, I see. Place tell us your qualification(s) so we know how competent you are to correct 'his consultant'. I don't think your cheif pharmacist will so berate a person of such medical accomplishment the way u just insinuated. Yoruba people say 'eniti o ba ni iru eni ko le moyi eni'.

frednest@yahoo.:
Medical lab scientist tells Doctors wat to do. Imagine a case of an innocent patient with high BP met a consultant dat prescribed drugs for her,but she insisted for a test but he turned it down,but the woman was not satisfy and went straight to d lab and got tested and her result shows dat she has hyperlipidaemia,and went to dat same hospital but unfortunately she didn't meet d consultant but met d Reg. In fact,the Reg almost fainted and apologize on his behalf and tell her to cancel dat drug that d consultant wrote and prescribed another drug. So tell me who is now supreme in patient diagnosis? Who is now saving lives? Doctors claim dey know laboratory cos they did it skol common interpretation of lab result they cannot,now they are sending Resident doctors in pathology to come and learn how to do lab test from med lab scientist. Med lab scientist said no unless they go back to skol and read med lab science,they said dey are going on strike. Do your profession and leave others profession alone,jack of all trade but master of none.

OK, what drug did the resident prescribe? The statins? And that brought the BP down? Tell us what followed as this is not enough. If I happen to be the said consultant, that resident will repeat his rotation over and over again till he knows his position in the scheme of things!!!

frednest@yahoo.:
Medical lab scientist tells Doctors wat to do. Imagine a case of an innocent patient with high BP met a consultant dat prescribed drugs for her,but she insisted for a test but he turned it down,but the woman was not satisfy and went straight to d lab and got tested and her result shows dat she has hyperlipidaemia,and went to dat same hospital but unfortunately she didn't meet d consultant but met d Reg. In fact,the Reg almost fainted and apologize on his behalf and tell her to cancel dat drug that d consultant wrote and prescribed another drug. So tell me who is now supreme in patient diagnosis? Who is now saving lives? Doctors claim dey know laboratory cos they did it skol common interpretation of lab result they cannot,now they are sending Resident doctors in pathology to come and learn how to do lab test from med lab scientist. Med lab scientist said no unless they go back to skol and read med lab science,they said dey are going on strike. Do your profession and leave others profession alone,jack of all trade but master of none.

Cityguy:
OK, what drug did the resident prescribe? The statins? And that brought the BP down? Tell us what followed as this is not enough. If I happen to be the said consultant, that resident will repeat his rotation over and over again till he knows his position in the scheme of things!!!

I read Mr. Lab scientist post and it made absolutely no sense... Hyperlipidemia turns into Hypertension through a lab test. Chai, Super story!!!

I think Mr. lab scientist will do better at writing Nollywood scripts.

mintyx:

Dr lady, Say anything you want, talk is cheap. Im not a nurse but i know those folks do respect Doctors who respect themselves and treat them as humans and as professionals. If you had 8 nurses to do a duty for you and all of them backed out then you need to rediagnose yourself. Ladies are worst hit in this aspect cos they hate themselves!

rediagnose myself because of nurses? Mtchew
Well, it was btw the chief matron and I, the other 7 do tnz her instructions.

ziga:



I read Mr. Lab scientist post and it made absolutely no sense... Hyperlipidemia turns into Hypertension through a lab test. Chai, Super story!!!

I think Mr. lab scientist will do better at writing Nollywood scripts.

I wonder since wen hyperlipidaemia even became a diagnosis

frednest@yahoo.:
Medical lab scientist tells Doctors wat to do. Imagine a case of an innocent patient with high BP met a consultant dat prescribed drugs for her,but she insisted for a test but he turned it down,but the woman was not satisfy and went straight to d lab and got tested and her result shows dat she has hyperlipidaemia,and went to dat same hospital but unfortunately she didn't meet d consultant but met d Reg. In fact,the Reg almost fainted and apologize on his behalf and tell her to cancel dat drug that d consultant wrote and prescribed another drug. So tell me who is now supreme in patient diagnosis? Who is now saving lives? Doctors claim dey know laboratory cos they did it skol common interpretation of lab result they cannot,now they are sending Resident doctors in pathology to come and learn how to do lab test from med lab scientist. Med lab scientist said no unless they go back to skol and read med lab science,they said dey are going on strike. Do your profession and leave others profession alone,jack of all trade but master of none.

Hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, "changn drugs" & savin life by a lab scientist.....u r funny dude, pls check ur facts very well, u sim half baked.

Tedpgrass:


Hairy,

You need to revisit my entry paragraph.

Definition of the type of organization, the underlying health ethos.... capitalist/socialist health reforms and available skill mix of available professionals and needs on ground. Prevailing culture and perspective is important, otherwise there will be difficulty in achieving public acceptance.

That will help in determining the person specification for the job.


Examples abound of private maternity/nursing homes run by midwives/nurses in Lagos. However, when seeking quality healthcare, I don't see well-placed Nigerians running there, or do you??
That in itself speaks volumes!!!!!

2ndly, I didn't
express that non-medical execs have made US healthcare in certain parts/areas worldclass. Pls don't make such inferences. The pharmaceuticals/ bioengineering coys have pushed advances in Medicine there, not some HMO paper-carrying exec.!!!!

Traditionally, medical care is structured around the docs or team of docs. Diagnosis is traditionally carried out by docs before investigation requests or referrals are made. Other professionals providing some of these services have done so after a period of tutoring from .... guess what??.... the medics!!! Treatment and follow-up is overseen by docs directly or indirectly.

So it makes sense by default, for a doctor to be at least the CMD of a health organization. The CEO may not necessarily be a doc, depending on the type of coy and country. Clinical administration is left in the hands of those competent for the job.

Analogy in NGR is a Minister may be of a different discipline but perm secs/DGs are always docs/medics.

3rdly, I'm quite conversant with the systems discussed. So I speak cerebrally from experience not from ill-formed opinions.

Efficiency of healthcare provision in a country is monitored by stats and indices, hence the use of cancer cure, others include maternal and infant mortality. Pertinent healthcare initiatives change as stats change depending on the political climate.

.

Public opinion as a requirement for choice of proper hospital management personnel is an unacceptable point. Prevailing culture such as is obtainable in Nigeria (with reference to your classification) is capitalism, prevailing skill mix is not a relevant argument since these allied medical professions have numerous serving professors whose erudition are beyond reproach
Concerning the advancements in medical profession, the 'coys' you mentioned happen to be pharmaceutical companies and bioengineers.
The indices you referred to alluded to the efficacy of the health system in these countries, countries where it is not law that hospitals be headed by doctors and where actually not all hospitals are.
In support of your argument, you referred to the traditional role of doctors, permit me to inform you that tradition metamorphosizes. In the present day, physiotherapists have become first contact personnel with the authority to make diagnoses, order tests and prescribe treatment.
Lastly I took time to study the research which stated these indices which you mentioned and their relationship to our argument and I realized why you did not put it forward entirely. The research stated its possible shortcomings and they are strong enough to indicate that physicians are not probably the best hospital managers.

[quote author=Abraham2013]

Bros doctors don't plan patients management for physiotherapist. We do our own consultations and we r also 1st contact medical practitioners.[/quote

sample treatment plans for elderly patient with ?left shoulder fracture
tab pcm 500mg tds x 3/7
cap amoxycillin 500mg tds till review
cap gericare 1 dly x 30/7
for physiotherapy
for nutritional rehabilitation
for psychiatrist review
urinalysis,fbc
left shoulder x-ray ap and lateral
admit for bed rest
signed dr agbo david

from above scenario who is the head of the medical team?

Cityguy:
OK, what drug did the resident prescribe? The statins? And that brought the BP down? Tell us what followed as this is not enough. If I happen to be the said consultant, that resident will repeat his rotation over and over again till he knows his position in the scheme of things!!!

hahaha, i dey laf...so statins r nw antihypertensivs abi; the LAB SCIENTIST tuk time to write dt o, hapi dt he saved life..n claimn he is doin d drs job

Pharm. in d house shld pls tok to d thr felo coliqs in struggle (johesu), dt u can nt substitute antihypertensivs wt statins.....

[quote author=Laalamed][/quote]

This is where you keep getting it wrong. When I looked at the above writings what I saw was patient's first contact, physician. This is as much as a physiotherpist writing

Immobilize affected shoulder
Apply cold pack
Xray
Invite physician
Signed ........(Pt)

In developed countries he also will prescribe these drugs you ddid. Its not about who heads, you do your job and he does his. Yours is not, in the least, more important.

[quote author=Laalamed][/quote]

This is where you keep getting it wrong. When I looked at the above writings what I saw was patient's first contact, physician. This is as much as a physiotherpist writing

Immobilize affected shoulder
Apply cold pack
Admit for Bed rest
Xray

Invite physician
Signed ........(Pt)

In developed countries he also will prescribe these drugs you ddid. Its not about who heads, you do your job and he does his. Yours is not, in the least, more important.

ngozievergreen:
rediagnose myself because of nurses? Mtchew
Well, it was btw the chief matron and I, the other 7 do tnz her instructions.

I know you did psychology in medical school and ought to understand these things. By mere reading your post, it gave me a peek view on the type of person you are.... See lady i work in a hospital and even though i know there are difficult people to work with(nurses included) Fact remains that people treat you to some an extent the way you present yourself. I dont mean to insult you but should know what im saying its true. If you "show" a gateman that you are a "doctor" well God bless your soul anyday you come to work late and try to manouvre your way to excape Servicom! He will definitly show you how important the gate man work is!

@Ngozi, haha it seems you'are still a house officer or some junior doctor or something frolicking on the ego of being a medical doctor, you still have a long way to go and your beefs with nurses ain't gonna end anytime soon, so chill out and respect people so that you can be respected.
I've gone through your post and seriously you need to change your mindset to be able to enjoy hospital work cos NIGERIA HEALTH SECTOR IS A WAR ZONE. Don't get caught up in it .

Until d medic begin to see other professionals in d Health team as EQUALLY IMPORTANT, d war in d Health sector wont abate anytime soon. I shake my head cos when Elephants fight, its d poor grasses dt suffer.

I am yet to see even a sucessful sugery conducted with ONLY THE BEST SURGEONS CONDUCTIN IT WITHOUT D WORK OF OTHER HEALTH PROFESSIONALS let alone in other works of d heslth team.

D problem of Medical Doctors, once again is PROFESSIONISM!!!

hairyman:

This is where you keep getting it wrong. When I looked at the above writings what I saw was patient's first contact, physician. This is as much as a physiotherpist writing

Immobilize affected shoulder
Apply cold pack
Admit for Bed rest
Xray

Invite physician
Signed ........(Pt)

In developed countries he also will prescribe these drugs you ddid. Its not about who heads, you do your job and he does his. Yours is not, in the least, more important.

you miss it an elderly patient patient may have diabetic,depress immunity with fracture. he may have low blood level. we are in era of holistic medicine not just to treat a condition. that is why physcians would always be the head of medical team. it has been found out that most elderly patients have more than one illness. the patient may be malnourished and thus need for nutritional rehabilitation. depression and suicidal ideation are concern then psychiatrist refer.

hairyman:

This is where you keep getting it wrong. When I looked at the above writings what I saw was patient's first contact, physician. This is as much as a physiotherpist writing

Immobilize affected shoulder
Apply cold pack
Admit for Bed rest
Xray

Invite physician
Signed ........(Pt)

In developed countries he also will prescribe these drugs you ddid. Its not about who heads, you do your job and he does his. Yours is not, in the least, more important.

Allied health professions are health
care professions distinct from
dentistry , optometry , nursing,
medicine , and pharmacy. [1] One
estimate reported allied health
professionals make up 60 percent of
the total health workforce .[2] They
work in health care teams to make the
health care system function by
providing a range of diagnostic,
technical, therapeutic and direct
patient care and support services that
are critical to the other health
professionals they work with and the
patients they serve.
Professions
Definitions of allied health professions
vary across countries and contexts,
but generally indicate that they are
health professions distinct from
medicine, dentistry, optometry and
nursing. Some definitions only include
health care providers that require
registration by law to practice, but
usually all allied health professions
that require a post-secondary degree
or higher qualification are included.
Depending on the country and local
health care system, a limited subset of
the following professions
(professional areas) may be
represented, and may be regulated:
Anesthesia technician
Autotransfusionist
Audiologist
Cardiographic technician
Cardiovascular technologist
Clinical laboratory scientist
Clinical officer
Clinical psychologist
Dental hygienist
Diagnostic medical sonographist
Dietitian / Nutritionist
Electrocardiogram technician
Emergency Medical Technician
Exercise physiologist
Health care administrator
Health information technician
Kinesiotherapist
Licensed Practical Nurse
Massage therapist
Medical assistant
Medical coder
Neurophysiologist
Medical dosimetrist
Medical laboratory scientist
Medical radiation scientist
Medical transcriptionist
Music therapist
Nuclear medicine technologist
Occupational therapist
Orthotist / Prosthetist
Orthoptist
Paramedic
Pedorthist
Perfusionist
Pharmacy technician
Phlebotomist
Physical Therapist
Radiation therapist
Radiologic Technologist
Respiratory therapist
Speech and language
pathologist
Surgical technologist
All professional areas ascribed before
belong to the ever-growing group of
allied health professionals and their
subspecialties. The precise titles, roles,
and requisites of the allied health
professions may vary considerably
from country to country. For example,
the National Council for Homeopathy
of Pakistan [3] and the Central Council
of Homeopathy of India [4] recognize
as allied health professionals those
who qualify with a four-year university
degree in the discipline, whereas in
other countries the practice of
homeopathy is not subject to
professional regulation.
from wikipedia.


physiotherapists are allied health professionals. go and learn.

five star doctors. according to who.int doctors are managers. get it in your head.

ziga:



I read Mr. Lab scientist post and it made absolutely no sense... Hyperlipidemia turns into Hypertension through a lab test. Chai, Super story!!!

I think Mr. lab scientist will do better at writing Nollywood scripts.

Ziga Its a pity if U are a Doctor wit this Post of yours. Go and read ur books well, but if U r not then U r pardoned. I think these words are enough if U r wise.

Laalamed: New Bill Would Make it Easier to
Find a Licensed Doctor
A new bill making its way through the
House of Representative aims to
eliminate the growing consumer
confusion over who is a licensed
medical doctor.
The bill is called the “Truth in
Healthcare Marketing Act of 2013”,
and its goal is to prevent healthcare
professionals from making false or
deceptive claims in regards to their
training or licensing. The bill also
applies to healthcare facilities that are
comprised of a variety of different
medical professionals. Providers must
clearly state the licenses and degrees
of its professionals, or they’ll be
subject to penalties under the Federal
Trade Commission Act, which protects
consumers against corporations who
profit from deceptive tactics.
“Patients…are understandably
confused by the increasing ambiguity
of healthcare provider-related
advertisements and marketing,” said
Matt Sturm, deputy director of
government relations for the
American Psychiatric Association.
Enlightening the Public
In the reasoning for considering the
bill, representatives noted two recent
surveys conducted by the American
Medical Association. Each survey had
850 participants, and it highlighted the
confusion among the general public
of who is a licensed doctor. Some of
the findings can be seen below:
When asked if chiropractors were
medical doctors, 38% of
respondents said yes, 53% said no,
and 9% were uncertain.
When asked is psychologists were
medical doctors, 49% said yes, 44%
said no, and 7% were uncertain.
In 2008, only 46% of people agreed
with the statement “It is easy to
identify who is a licensed [medical
doctor] and who is not by reading
what services they offer, their title
and other licensing credentials in
advertising or other marketing
materials.” That number rose to
51% in 2010.
Why so confusing?
Perhaps the biggest reason why
patients are confused is because
there is a growing use of professional
acronyms in the medical field. People
see acronyms like MD, DDS, MS, DC,
DPT and OD, and they can’t decipher
who is a doctor and who isn’t. Sturm
said he believes the bill will help make
credentials clearer for patients.
“There is clear data that patients are
confused about the level of training
for health professionals. We simply
think proper display of credentials in
marketing and advertising, making
licensure misrepresentation clearly
illegal, and beefing up enforcement
makes logical sense, said Sturm. “If
you were looking for mental health
treatment for yourself or a family
member, services that are potentially
sensitive and need to be carefully
managed, wouldn’t you like to know a
provider’s qualifications?”
The bill is expected to be voted on in
the coming months.
Dr. Silverman comments
Sometimes things are black and white,
and other times they are grey. One
thing that is clear is people need to
know with whom they are entrusting
their health care.
The title “doctor” lacks a specific
meaning since it applies to so many
different professions. Psychologists,
chiropractors, dentists and podiatrists
are all doctors, yet the title has
become diluted to the point that
people have no idea of each doctor’s
qualifications or training. The point of
this bill is to make it so doctors need
to tell you what kind of doctor they
are when they market themselves.
Some allied health providers believe
that this bill belittles their professions
and takes for granted all the work that
they do. Allied health providers do
amazing work and make up a huge
percentage of the healthcare
workforce. They are the primary care
providers and ancillary providers to
thousands of patients around the US
daily. They deserve respect for what
they do, but the solution in every case
of confusion is to provide the
knowledge so that people can make
educated choices.
The bill has merit and should be
considered. Its goals, those of
education not regulation, are noble. It
does not attempt to limit any one
providers’ scope. However, it is being
painted negatively. Instead of
embracing the spread of knowledge,
some believe it will create prejudice.
Nonsense. The solution to prejudice is
knowledge.
blog.anklefootmd.com/2013/04/26/new-bill-would-make-it-easier-to-find-a-licensed-doctor/

i think we need similar bill in nigeria to improve health care delivery. i know some medical lab scientistswho run medical tests and prescribe drugs deceiving patients they are doctors.

Samdurance:

Ziga Its a pity if U are a Doctor wit this Post of yours. Go and read ur books well, but if U r not then U r pardoned. I think these words are enough if U r wise.

God help Patients. AMEN

Laalamed:
i think we need similar bill in nigeria to improve health care delivery. i know some medical lab scientistswho run medical tests and prescribe drugs deceiving patients they are doctors.

Don't be threatened by a Medical Laboratory Scientist. They are part of the team. Just do ur job well that's all.

Abraham2013:

Well u hav spoken like a child as ur name suggest. D patient does not belong to d doctor alone. If a lab scientist does a wrong investigation and presents it to a doctor and d doctor in turn gives a wrong diagnosis, wen patient dies, d doctor will simply point at d lab scientist for been d cause of misdiagnosis and d lab scientist license will be withdrawn and d doctor does home free. Now if d patient belongs to d doctor sorely as u claim, dat means d lab scientist hav no case to answer.

On point, On point

Samdurance:

Don't be threatened by a Medical Laboratory Scientist. They are part of the team. Just do ur job well that's all.

threatened by technician parading themselves as doctors and scientists.? very soon automated analyzers would take over ur job. very soon lab assistants to man machine. better go and find something to do or go to ur village and be treating ur family.