Dr. Maya Sarkisyan, D.O.M
10 January 2018
Your doctor has to care.
You cannot trust a person who doesn’t care. It has to be personal for your doctor. You have to matter to your doctor. Really matter.
Then you know – you matter. Then you can trust your doctor with your life.
I have to start with a disclaimer. This is a sensitive topic, and our opinions might not match. So my view on this comes from my clinical work with my patients, their stories, their pain, and suffering.
In our modern time, people turned to alternative medicine when they already tried and failed at everything else conventional medical. And in many occasions previously been misdiagnosed, operated on for no good reason, given dozens of pharmaceutical prescription medication, and so on.
It is emotionally challenging to listen to people suffering from a sense of betrayal by their well-recommended doctors.
Yes, I believe people suffer even more from betrayal then from the actual pain when they are misled by highly trained medical professionals who took upon themselves the highest authority to decide how to influence the patient into aggressive surgical or pain management plan.
Agreed, sometimes it saves lives and necessary. However, I have personally seen many patients who didn’t have to undergo aggressive surgical procedures based on vague diagnostic results. Others were put on a pain management drug treatment indefinite program. And often people experience both – unnecessary surgery – more pain – indefinite pain management program.
Don’t you think it is a nightmare for somebody to be told by the end of long and painful treatment that they will never be pain and drug-free?
When these people make it to my clinic, broken physically and emotionally, they expect a one-session miracle. And I want to say: “Where were you before you went under the knife? Why didn’t you explore non-invasive, non-medicated option when it just started happening with you?”. I don’t say it because it will not change anything. But the treatment plan becomes more challenging than it could be. However neuro-emotional work often provides fast results even in challenging cases.
You got to realize that any, absolutely any surgery changes everything in the body. If you have surgery in one part of the spine, the other part will start having issues. If you took the organ out – other organs would have to compensate for that. If you have a facelift – one side of your face might heal differently then the other, and your face might be asymmetric or inflamed.
So, how to find a good doctor?
Some doctors take care of the body. You go to them with pain, flu, broken bones, yearly checkup, etc.
Some doctors take care of the mind. You go to them with mental and emotional problems.
But this is the puzzle – as body and mind are not separate, just as your physical stomach and the spasm in your stomach from stress are not independent of each other. Just as your physical heart and heart palpitation you have from intense emotions are not separate.
- You have got to find a doctor who takes care of your body and your mind together. And if you are lucky – checking on the condition of your spirit as well.
- Your doctor has to be kind and listening to you. If he/she is not kind – it’s a big red flag. Would you marry somebody who verbally abuses and belittles you? Some people do, but it’s a topic for another article.
I don’t know why some people choose a profession of helping others and become unkind and inattentive to their patients. If anything, a medical profession made me more human then ever before.
It is not a rocket science for any doctor (MDs, DOs, etc.) to get educated in the functional and holistic medicine. It takes time and lots of money. It requires personal sacrifices – of time, relationships, resources, and many others. I (along with some other doctors I know and love) invest most of my resources on my education in the latest clinical diagnostics, studying genetic analysis (rapidly developing field), and more holistic medicine. I believe I have a responsibility to my patients (and to people who will come to my clinic for days to come ) to get knowledgeable in 360 degrees approach to their overall health. And so every doctor has that responsibility. At least a little bit.
Many years ago I was a successful computer programmer working for Wall St markets, and I was very computer-like, so I didn’t understand people that much. But after getting a medical degree and learning the intricate connection of mind-body-spirit, the amazing miracle of a human body, internal chemical balance, the brain, the way emotions affect the physical body – wow, that made me very human. That made me compassionate.
So I think I know what a good doctor is.
- He/she is knowledgeable, reputable, have a license to practice, has all the credentials.
- He/she has to offer alternatives, to be knowledgeable about other options, about the latest research in functional medicine, alternative medicine, mind-body connection.
- He/she takes time to listen to all your concerns (by active listening), asks you lots of seemingly unrelated questions about your life, takes time to explain to you everything so you clearly understand, to look you in the eyes and make a connection with real you. It’s hard to not care about a patient after we feel that connection.
Try this. Go to the mirror and make an eye connection with your reflection, and see how long you can hold your own gaze. At some point, you will connect to yourself, and you will care. You will see the pain, suffering, hope, fear, love – all the gamut of emotions, and you will care. It will not be easy to do, by the way, if you are one of us – regular modern people.
So your doctor has to care. Otherwise, all is lost. You cannot trust a person who doesn’t care. It has to be personal for him/her. You have to matter to him/her. Really matter.
Then you know – you matter. Then you can trust your doctor with your life.
If this information picked your curiosity, let me know by emailing me [email protected] and ask for more interesting and relevant information.
Stay tuned and discover “The True Story About Your Health”.
