What your patients are reading about you (book excerpt: You: The Smart Patient)

Two physician authors are telling patients how to take charge of their own care. Here's a peek at what patients are told to expect from physicians. This first excerpt explores reasons for a second opinion.

By Mehmet C. Oz, MD, and Michael F. Roizen, MD, AMNews contributors. June 12, 2006.

Book Excerpt
A peek inside what's new on the shelves on topics pertinent to physicians.

It's a two-word utterance that used to cause great tension between doctors and patients, long before "I'll sue!" stole its thunder. Mentioning it still causes anxiety, at least among a percentage of patients who can't shake their outdated notions about us doctors having some sort of all-knowing, all-seeing power.

It's "second opinion."

Of course, today we all know (or should know) the modern viewpoint on second opinions, since talk shows, nightly news segments, newspaper and magazine articles, highway billboards, health insurance newsletters, at least a million self-help books and everything else short of fortune cookies and Bazooka Joe comics have been hammering the rule into our heads for at least fifteen years: Never think twice about getting a second opinion.

You might think that this is difficult for us to say, because, well, it boils down to admitting that we can be wrong and we can be wrong a lot. Sometimes 180 degrees wrong. But it's actually second nature for us to push second opinions. Honestly, to forget about your needs for a moment, you're doing your doctor a big favor by getting a second opinion. You're giving him the chance to have his work and his instincts checked by another qualified doctor, which can only result in three possibilities.

First, the consulting doctor could agree with his diagnosis and advice completely, which will make everyone feel more confident in going forward. Second, the consulting doctor could agree on some points but offer different thoughts on others. Third, the next opinion could be completely different. In either of the last two cases, you've given your doctor a free opportunity to learn something without him having to fly to Salt Lake City to sit through a conference. So from a purely selfless standpoint, never feel embarrassed about going for a second opinion. Your health insurance may require it in many circumstances, but even if not, your doctor almost assuredly expects you to do so. And your doctor should thank you for it. In case he or she forgets, we will: