Why don’t you ask your doctor?

I get great pleasure in offering a free second opinion to infertile patients However, I find it frustrating when patients ask me questions that should be directed to their own IVF doctors. Patients find it almost impossible to ask their doctors questions pertaining to their treatment . In India, this culture can be traced back to our country’s educational system in which students find it hard to challenge their teachers and carry on with the behavior into adulthood.

The reason in most cases is that they feel intimidated by the doctors or they don’t want to appear ignorant . They are worried that the doctor may feel that they are challenging his authority or competence by asking his questions. What most patients fail to realize is that it is actually their doctor’s responsibility to answer their questions; clarify their doubts; and respond to their complaints 

This means that there is a huge void that needs to be filled by the medical fraternity. Doctors could save the situation by developing a pool of information and posting it online in websites for patients to access and read for themselves. This would save patients the trouble of constantly going to doctors to get answers. Doctors would also save themselves a lot of time and reduce their workload.