"As I was drifting off to sleep that night after my meeting at Yale, it occurred to me that perhaps something inherent in the way medicine is practiced restricts physicians’ thinking about new medical problems. Perhaps, being outside of the medical world, I had more freedom to see new possibilities; I had nothing invested in being an expert or in maintaining the image of the all-knowing doctor. For many doctors it may be easier to make up a diagnosis or blame the patient when she does not fit into an established entity. Some physicians may become complacent in the status quo, not wanting to challenge current disease classifications for fear of being wrong or opening a Pandora’s box. Another problem is that many doctors are very specialized, so they may see only part of a given problem, therefore missing connections between different aspects of a complicated disease.
"It is an unusual physician who says that he will listen to all in search of an answer and who acknowledges that perhaps the person living with the disease may be able to provide valuable clues. The doctor who listens and hears is a good doctor."
Murray, P. (1996). The Widening Circle: A Lyme Disease Pioneer Tells her Story. NY: St. Martin’s Press. p. 103.
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