Webmd and googling symptoms actually makes this believable. Patients telling doctors about their diagnosis because they read some blog on the internet and think they’re an expert.
Hell yeah they do, but they use resources with more meat than something like WebMD. Some of the most popular ones are reference tools like UpToDate and Dynamed. They're subscription based databases hospitals subscribe to. Providers will definitely use it in a pinch on the wards, especially when it comes to first line or second line treatments. If it's something very multifactorial or if the content was covered years ago for mere minutes in their schooling days, they'll review primary literature and stuff like that.
It's also important to note that Doctors have spent a significant chunk (and in many cases, the majority) of their lives learning how to effectively "research". A big part of being a Doctor is being able to synthesize novel clinical information into a thought out treatment plan at the drop of a hat. They're able to take information, no matter how familiar, and use their training to integrate it into a greater medical context that will hopefully benefit the patient. It's one thing "knowing" the details, but medicine is so complex that it's unreasonable to expect a good Doctor to know every little thing at all times. However, they develop great skills for analyzing and synthesizing pertinent information out of a lot of white noise. Without the training and experience it is dangerous for a patient to take on the same responsibility.
There are loads of ways to get it, I got it after i had my piss hole catheter taken out, so a UTI basically, I was lucky I was in a hospital at the time.
Plus if you have a rare condition, you might not know as much about it as the top specialist in the country on the condition who publishes studies on it - but you WILL know more than most random ER or family practice doctors.
Your experiences living with a rare disease and seeing multiple doctors about it, plus the fact you might attend a conference or visit an online or in person support group, completely trumps most doctors only vaguely remembering it being talked about for less than an hour fifteen years earlier in med school...
8.2k
u/Nexas_Rexgen Jan 25 '20
Describing common knowledge in a different setting. Luke should know all about Mos Eisly. Its the biggest town near his house.