Three type of internet patients

The Internet can be a valuable source of information for IVF patients. Along with medical information, there are lots of reviews about IVF clinics.

IVF has become a common medical procedure and reading first hand stories of their struggle and triumph can be very inspirational to infertile couples who are in the same situation.  However, the problem with the internet is that it can be a source of both good and bad information, and sometimes patients are not good at sorting out which is which.  The internet can be both a blessing and a curse if you are a doctor trying to treat patients. 

There are three patient types that use the internet. The first type of patient is one who is an experienced internet user, and is able to find reliable information about IVF. They can separate the wheat from the chaff and then use this knowledge to effectively communicate with the doctor. These patients are a pleasure to treat !

The second type of internet user does not know what they are doing, and by the time they see the doctor, they are frustrated because they are lost and confused by the contradictory information on different websites.  They do not know what to trust. This type of patient is already upset and annoyed, and it can take time to educate them as to how to evaluate the quality of online information.

The last type of patient is an obsessive internet user , who uses the web a lot, but gets so lost in technical minutiae, that they cannot interpret the information intelligently, or apply it in the right context. This kind of patient can easily challenge a doctor's patience , because they start thinking of themselves as being experts !

Patients who use the internet can be both a blessing and curse for themselves and their doctors.  The internet is like any other tool, and it has to be used correctly. 

Not sure what to trust on the internet ? Do google searches frustrate you ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/malpaniform.htm so that I can guide you better !



 

Doctors and Their Egos

The main reason patients file complaints against their doctors is because they feel that the doctor has treated them badly. They feel doctors are arrogant and think of themselves are being Gods. I have come across quite a few doctors in my time, and I have met some that really deserved their bad reviews and patient complaints.

As a doctor, I have a lot of patients who tell me that I am a good doctor and I am very easy to talk to. While I appreciate the compliment, I have also heard a lot of horror stories about doctors who were high-handed and dismissive. In fact, this attitude of the doctors has actually made women look for another IVF clinic.

Why do doctors have such big egos? Why do doctors think they are better than everyone else?

I think the answer to this question can be found in the fact that doctors have to go through many years of medical college and training, which is why they start thinking of themselves as being superior to the layperson. Also, the very first time a doctor saves a patient's life, this success can go to their head. I have to admit, that while doing my residency, I had the same kind of experience - and having to deal with life and death situations can be both terrifying and exhilarating.

Are you having a hard time talking to your IVF doctor because he doesn't have time for you ?

Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/malpaniform.htm so that I can guide you better !

It is Best to Let IVF Patients Make Their Own Informed Decisions

A patient who had been advised IVF treatment found during her pre-IVF treatment workup that she had a five millimeter endometrial polyp in her uterus. Another IVF doctor she had gone to had advised her to get the polyp removed before getting her IVF treatment. This patient came to Malpani clinic for a second opinion from me.

In cases like this, it is hard to make definitive decisions. Each doctor has a subjective opinion of issues like this which fall in the grey areas of medical practice. Most doctors do believe in removing anything from the uterus before putting an embryo inside the endometrial cavity . Naturally, they suggested she get an operative hysteroscopy to get the polyp removed prior to the IVF cycle. This being a standard and logical approach , is usual medical advice.

On the other hand, many doctors consider this move unnecessary as there is no evidence that a small polyp affects embryo implantation. Since, there is insufficient clinical evidence for a concrete conclusion to be made, this issue remains controversial. IVF specialists tend to see only infertile women and they are quite likely to assume that if a woman has uterine polyps, that these are the cause of her infertility and will therefore, suggest their removal.  However, contrary to this belief, it is a fact that even fertile women can have endometrial polyps and can get pregnant even if these are left alone. Since, they don’t have a fertility problem in the first place , neither they nor the doctor ever discover it.

This leaves both the doctor and the patient in a state of confusion. The patient gets contradictory advice from different experts. One advocates surgery, the other advises her to leave the polyps alone. What is she to do?

Are you confused as well ?  Do you need an objective high quality second opinion from an IVF expert ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/malpaniform.htm so that I can guide you better !

An embryo is not a baby

As an IVF  doctor , I treat women dream of becoming a mother. Many naively expect that once I have made the embryo in the IVF cycle and transferred this into her uterus, she will get pregnant. Lots of women called their embryos embies, because they start thinking of them as their babies. While it is true that embryos have the potential to become babies, there is a huge difference between a baby and an embryo which is simply a fertilized egg. 

You see the debate all the time on the news when it comes to abortion ! People who are pro-life will treat the fertilized egg as being a baby , because they feel it is uniquely human. However, pro-lifes fail to realize that a cluster of cells is nothing more than a cluster of cells, and it needs to undergo many weeks of development before it even starts resembling baby. 

Most women are on a high after their embryo transfer. Many start treating themselves as being pregnant - after all, isn't there an embryo inside the uterus ? However, the sad truth is that most

embryos fail to implant inside the uterus, and IVF cycles fail all the time. I have seen women who have been so devastated by a negative pregnancy test that they break down and cry in my clinic, because in their minds  they have just lost a baby.  They feel that they have miscarried - and have failed to be able to provide their precious embryos with a safe and secure home.

Because patients do not understand the difference between embryos and babies, Malpani Clinic has been the subject of complaints and negative reviews . Patients feel cheated when their IVF cycle fails, and are happy to badmouth their IVF doctor by writing unfair reviews.

If you are not sure why your embryos did not become babies, please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/malpaniform.htm so that I can guide you better !

The Commonest IVF Patients’ Complaints About Their Doctors

There is no patient who cannot recount horror stories about doctors. If you ever reveal yourself to be a doctor at a random party, be prepared to be regaled with endless complaints as to how terribly insensitive and uncaring doctors are these days. Apparently, their legendary family doctor was far superior  and everyone fondly remembers the caring doctor of yore, who made house calls and was a friend, philosopher and guide along with being a doctor !

That doctors do not share information with them is by far one of the most common complaints. This is a rightful complaint as doctors, being busy, do not share information with their patients unless they feel that the patient needs it. If the patient’s health is improving they feel that it is useless to burden them with information about their pathophysiology and differential diagnosis. But if the patient doesn’t get better, they will most likely have complaints against the doctor for not sharing all information with them. Assuming that he deliberately withheld information they imagine that the doctor is simply out to cheat them. But the fact is, he may simply have been too busy to reveal information to them.

It is a waste to make complaints that your doctor does not share information with you. You only become sulky, enraged, sad and bitter with your doctor being none the wiser about your resentment. Your doctor most probably thinks he has told you whatever you need to know.

Learning productive strategies to work as active partners instead of being passive recipients of treatment can be a wiser approach for patients. It is best to turn confrontational with the doctor only if the output is bad. Patients need to learn to be more assertive instead of being inert.

If you want more light shed on what information you need to maximize your chances of IVF success, please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/malpaniform.htm so that I can guide you better !

Why are IVF Patients scared of Complaining About Doctors

A doctor couple who had had failed IVF treatment at another clinic came to Malpani Clinic. The ophthalmologist husband and the dermatologist wife had undergone two IVF cycles in a leading Mumbai hospital. When I asked him for notes and photos of the embryos from their previous IVF treatment, they confessed to having none. This was a setback for me because I could create a treatment plan more easily if I had known what the other doctor had done. The documentation would have served as a template which I could wisely modify according to the patient’s individual response,  to facilitate her to grow eggs of better quality and to improve her chances of pregnancy. With such valuable information unavailable, I was forced to start all over again with just my speculation to aid me.

Despite being a doctor himself, the patient became defensive when I asked them for these details. They said that this hospital didn’t have the norm of providing documentation. I explained to them that a discharge summary, operative note and relevant photographs are always provided to the patient every time a medical procedure is done. I expressed surprise at the fact that despite both of them being doctors, they didn’t even insist on getting the basic paperwork for their IVF treatment. Discomfiture visible on their faces, they revealed that they had assumed that this was the way it worked in Mumbai! I got to know that they had been told to pay in cash by their doctor and hospital and had not received any receipts for the same as well ! Presuming this to be the usual norm, they hadn’t bothered to ask any questions. 

Is your IVF doctor hiding information from you ? If you need more light, please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/malpaniform.htm so that I can guide you better !