Different Styles of Doctors for Thyroid Patients

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by Mary J. Shomon

The nature of the relationship between you and your doctor can have a profound effect on your health, and can play a part -- good or bad -- in your effort to successfully cope with a chronic condition like thyroid disease. An important part of understanding that relationship is to have a better sense of how you and your doctor relate to each other.

Let's take a look at some of the different styles you may encounter in physicians...

The Father Figure: These are doctors who tend to feel that being a doctor is a prestigious profession, and that patients should be respectful of the doctor's position and expect that patients will "obey" the instructions and follow the directions.

The Dictator: There are not many Dictators out there, but when you find one, you will know it. This sort of doctor is authoritarian, and may even use fear or intimidation to get you to follow his or her instructions.

The Partner/Colleague/Consultant : If you are one of the new breed of informed/empowered patients, you may have found yourself with a Partner/Colleague/Consultant style of doctor. This type of physician believes that he or she is your partner in the process of diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up.

The Revolving Door: Whether you're part of an American Health Maintenance Organization (HMO), or are part of the military medical system, or in the national health systems of Canada or the UK, the doctor you see this week may not be the same doctor you see next week. HMO systems frequently offer primary care clinics or practices made up of several doctors, and you're assigned a physician for each visit on a first-come first-served basis.

The Innovator: The Innovator is frequently found in the areas of holistic or alternative medicine, or pioneers of new conventional therapies. An Innovator is frequently breaking new ground, and these doctors are frequently the ones who are writing books, on television, hosting radio shows, or creating elaborate informational web sites.

Ultimately, choosing the right physician(s) for you is a function of your condition, your own personal style in taking care of your health, your attitude toward physicians, how involved you want to be in your own health care, and, what type of physician is available to you.

To find out more about these styles of doctors, their pros and cons and what they mean for you visit an in-depth online article.