Rodney Said:

I am a doctor who constantly has people seeking free advice. How do I deal with them without being rude?

We Answered:

"I'd love to talk this over more with you when I can really give it the time it deserves. Why don't you call my office and set up a time with my secretary and we can discuss it further."

Smile and change the subject back to something appropriately social :) 99% chance they'll stutter "Oh...oh, yes, I'll have to do that" and never call.

Beatrice Said:

from where i can get free help (advice) from a doctor on net?

We Answered:

VISIT A DOCTOR!!!
IT'S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY!!!!
I used to think in that way before, but now as a medical student I realize that there is a missconception behind this. Internet is a virtual universe full of volunteers. Unfortunately medicine is not like other sciences. Although I enjoy giving online advice volunteerly for all kind of stuff in medicine I am obligated to act differently. I only give general and never personal advice. All responsible people involved in medicine are extremely careful and avoid giving personal advice without examining the patient. Why? For 3 main reasons:

1) All diseases are presented with (a) specific symptoms, (b) specific sings and (3) specific laboratory tests. Only symptoms are described by the patient. Sings on the other hand can only be identified by an experienced doctor. A Doctor is educated and has experiense to see if you have or not the signs of any specific disease. For instanse is your liver a litle bit enlarged or not? Is a certain vain blocked? Does your eye correspond well to light? The second step is to order specific laboratory tests taking in to consideration all the signs and not only the symptoms the patient described.

2) When you visit a doctor the first thing he does is noticing your apperiance: age, weight, color skin, how you walk etc. It's the oldest trick in the book and It is the only way for the doctor to see how "ill" do you look. This is extremely crucial for the correct diagnosis. Unfortunatelly this can't be described in a text by the patient.

3) The most important thing you must keep in mind that almost all kind of malignacies can be presented with everyday symptoms. During the last semester in Medical School we where examining adult patients and we were educated to have one thing in mind: to exlude the worse scenario. The worst scenario is usually cancer. This is a silent procedure made in almost every patient. Can you imagine giving online text instructions to every patient instructing him/her how to exlude cancer from the diagnosis? All patients will panic! They will act irrationally. Inside a hospital virtually all patients are examined for some kind of potential cancer. This is what doctors are trained to do silently every day and this is the reason why in modern medicine malignacies are identified and treated.

Example: even if I read an online presentation of symptoms like in mild anemia I will never give advice from distance without physical examination and laboratory results that exclude all kind of malignacies. When the patient sais "I have anemia" the doctor must exclude all different kinds of malignacies that may present with the same symptoms like Leukemia, Gastro Instestinal Cancer (GI bleeding)etc. Do you thing It would be wise for a doctor to instruct online all anemic patients how to treat anemia when he knows that someone may die from untreated cancer ? My conscious is not allowing me to do so. I give general advice and say "please visit your doctor". And If a doctor gives online advice, is it appropriate for him to make virtually all patients panic and start searching the internet for all potential cancers that they don't have?

So trust me in this. It's not about the money!!!

Jim Said:

where can i talk to a doctor over phone for free medical advice?

We Answered:

Try googling "NHS direct". That is a free advice service

Cecil Said:

Could you please give advice about how to get free doctor visits because my friend has stomach cancer...thanks?

We Answered:

Can't she (since she's 18 or over) apply for something like Medicaid?

Go to this site http://www.dhcs.ca.gov/services/medi-cal…

Grace Said:

Is it wrong to ask a doctor for free medical advice?

We Answered:

I think it depends upon your relationship to the doctor. My sister-in-law is a nurse practitioner, and I ask her advice from time to time. However, I have a couple of acquaintances who are doctors, and I never ask them.