When patients question the motives of their physicians

I was recently scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed when I came upon a long message chain started by one of my friends, an older woman from my hometown in New Jersey. She had seen a discussion given by a drug representative who was promoting administering Gardasil to early adolescents for the prevention of cervical cancer, and my friend wanted to know how other parents felt about allowing their children to be given the vaccine. The discussion that followed was remarkable to me for a number of reasons. I knew that there was a lot of public suspicion surrounding the HPV vaccine, much of it fueled by fear of negative side effects and distrust of big pharma. What I didn’t realize was how often this distrust extended to include the pediatricians who are currently recommending the vaccine for children ages 11 to 12 years old, with the hope of preventing them or their future partners from contracting cervical cancer. Many of the men and women from my hometown stated that they would not be following their pediatrician’s recommendation to vaccinate their children, some even going as far as to call their doctors “drug pushers.” As a second year medical student, I found this upsetting. It is embarrassing to admit, but the distrust of these strangers for the profession that I am about to enter struck a nerve, and reading their comments left me hurt. Every currently practicing physician in the United States has gone through a rigorous training program that includes four years of...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Education Medical school Pediatrics Source Type: blogs