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I'm choosing the "Yes" point of view but it is not unqualified. Take any group of people, cops, doctors, parents, children; not everyone in that category can be trusted. What a case of stereotyping that would be. We have to get over this tendency to judge an entire group of people by our personal experience with one. How many of million doctors are there? To have one or even a few bad experiences still not not entitle you to say that all doctors can not be trusted. Now I realize I could write these same words and put it in the "No" section but I prefer seeing a glass as half full than half empty. I prefer to think most doctors can be trusted, most cops can be trusted, most attorneys and accountants all can be trusted even though all can not. Technically, I do believe most doctors can be trusted and I know I would never frequent one that I didn't trust.

One thing that makes doctors as a group more worthy of our trust than they once were is that our physicians and surgeons are no longer the wealthy elite as they once were. These days it's the insurance and pharmaceutical executives that are driving the expensive cars and vacationing in Europe. Have you looked at the papers that come in the envelope from Blue Cross,Humana, Aetna or whoever handles your health care? Your doctor is writing off close to 50% of his billable amount. You pay your reasonable co-pay, the insurance company kicks in a few dollars and your doctor writes the rest of his fee off. I've never quite figured out why our healthcare premiums are so high but that's another story altogether. the point at hand is that our doctors no longer drive Cadillacs and Mercedes, I saw my doctor pull out in his 12 year old Honda the other day. He went to school for eight years to drive a car that won't quite qualify as a collector's? No, he went to school for eight years because he wants to heal people and isn't that why every doctor should choose his profession? that is certainly the motivation I'd like my doctor to have. I invariably get angry when I think about the insurance industry but maybe they've done us a favor. maybe they're weeding out the doctors with hearts of stone, the ones whose only concern is the bottom line.

Previous generations thought that doctors were Gods, they knew everything, could cure anything and their advice should be taken unquestionably. That's what got us into trouble. Doctors no longer had to be trustworthy because no one questioned them. We are now opening our eyes and it forces them to be as trustworthy as they should have been all along. If a doctor gives me instructions that my common sense tells me should not be followed, you can bet I'm going to ask for his rationale. When I have a new doctor, the first thing I do after a visit is to come home and verify the information I was given. I research the disorder I was diagnosed with, do the symptoms fit, did he take the right tests? When I'm written a prescription I get on the Internet before I get it filled. What are the side effects and does it have the reputation of succeeding in treating my condition?

After seeing a doctor and finding I'm getting good information from them I am not as diligent, that's when I know they've earned my trust. If I'm not satisfied with my treatment I don't go back a second time. What sends me running faster than anything else is a doctor who does not listen to me, one who makes me feel he is too busy to listen to and answer my questions adequately.

Can I trust my doctors? YES. Can you trust yours? Only you can answer that question but if the answer is "no", you need to find a new doctor. It is your life that you put in their hands, not your refrigerator.

Learn more about this author, Kim Kelley-Borzello.
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