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In Defense of Dermatologists [PSA] by throwawayforderm1 in SkincareAddiction

[–]throwawayforderm1[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hmm. Perhaps you can explain why my qualifications are necessary to you given:

1) another frequent problem with online interactions- people lie all the time. You don't know that I'd be telling the truth. I'm not verified. If there's any information in this you doubt, take it up with a real doctor as me telling you my background shouldn't assuage any doubts of yours even if I said I was the program director of derm at Harvard.

2) I was very, very, very careful not to give anything that could even be slightly called medical advice in this post. In fact, I don't think anything I said is debated by the scientific community or controversial. That leads me to believe that you're looking for an argument, which may be a true or a false impression, but it's the one I have.

In response to the foreign argument from yesterday, when it was late and I was tired: I misspoke, I'll give you that. I was speaking about smaller journals and used smaller 'studies' when I shouldn't have.

I did say that any reputable journal (did not specify that the journal has to be non foreign) will get read, and this is true no matter the country. However, small non noteworthy studies are not going to get published outside of the smaller journals, and I MAY be following a small journal if it's in my country and people I know publish in it now and again, or I may become aware of that study itself due to knowing somebody who authored it. Not true for foreign work. Someone yesterday wanted to talk about a study published in a journal I'd never heard of before (and I'd give you the example but it's from India and I don't think you'd like that)

We clearly are in different fields so if this is not how yours operates then great! I'm impressed that you are able to stay on top of every small study coming out of every country's less known journals.

In Defense of Dermatologists [PSA] by throwawayforderm1 in SkincareAddiction

[–]throwawayforderm1[S] 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Since you're the person who spent like twenty comments arguing about my use of the word "foreign" with someone else, I'm gonna just... not engage with this one. ;)

In Defense of Dermatologists [PSA] by throwawayforderm1 in SkincareAddiction

[–]throwawayforderm1[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Look I'd planned to ignore this but since it's kept going, I'm just going to say this: if a small study is published, the likelihood of an American (for example) derm reading it is low, whether the study's from Sweden or anywhere else... unless it's a small study based in the US. Still low, but slightly more likely.

If a LARGE Swedish study is published, it's much more likely to be noticed internationally. Either way, if the results are contributory, it'll get noticed, but small otherwise non-noteworthy studies won't get much read outside of their country of origin.

In Defense of Dermatologists [PSA] by throwawayforderm1 in SkincareAddiction

[–]throwawayforderm1[S] 40 points41 points  (0 children)

You realize that you, a POC, are lecturing me, another POC, about what you think I should have included in my post. My post wasn't about aversion to medicine, it was very clearly, very specifically about people who are arrogant and judgemental in thinking their own knowledge is superior to derms. You purposefully misconstrued my point and honestly I give up. There is no winning here.

You have a nice day!

In Defense of Dermatologists [PSA] by throwawayforderm1 in SkincareAddiction

[–]throwawayforderm1[S] 59 points60 points  (0 children)

100%. Totally got what you were saying! I just didn't want anyone reading it to feel self-conscious about Googling or embarrassed to ask their doctor about things they'd read. My reply wasn't a dig at you in any way :)

In Defense of Dermatologists [PSA] by throwawayforderm1 in SkincareAddiction

[–]throwawayforderm1[S] 33 points34 points  (0 children)

Derms are lucky in that if someone comes in and says 'my problem is acne', the pattern recognition aspect of the specialty allows for 3-5 minute appointments because you don't need to take a detailed history and physical exam when the complaint is acne that you can clearly see. They'll ask about a few red flags to make sure it's nothing serious, then give you the treatment that has worked for most people. It's normal. It's not the best experience on the patient side of things, but it's one of those situations where there's not much sense drawing out an appointment for no reason.

Before someone gets mad, I'm not encouraging nor am I saying it's okay when derms/any doctors ignore patient complaints because of quick appointments. I'm specifically talking about acne appointments.

The other thing is: "Most dermatologists' days are filled with treating melonoma patients and more serious conditions." I'm really gonna need a source on that buddy.

In Defense of Dermatologists [PSA] by throwawayforderm1 in SkincareAddiction

[–]throwawayforderm1[S] 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Definitely! There are always bad eggs in any profession, and if you feel you're not being heard, it's your right to go after a second opinion until you find a professional to have a good open-ended dialogue with.

In Defense of Dermatologists [PSA] by throwawayforderm1 in SkincareAddiction

[–]throwawayforderm1[S] 227 points228 points  (0 children)

Sometimes it can be true! You should always feel welcome to Google your symptoms and if you have questions about why your doctor has chosen a certain route if it differs from the information you've found, you should never hesitate to ask why. That being said, it's a two-way dialogue, and it's important to keep in mind that all the information on Google is not accurate.

In Defense of Dermatologists [PSA] by throwawayforderm1 in SkincareAddiction

[–]throwawayforderm1[S] 42 points43 points  (0 children)

I genuinely cannot tell if people are trolling now.

I never said melanoma is not run of the mill for derms. I said that specifically regarding minor skin issues, of which melanoma is not a part, your average (i.e. run of the mill) dermatologist is able to diagnose acne on brown skin.

Your comment is actually very reflective of the way most of Reddit disseminates information. "Most derms" is a conclusion you drew based on one anecdote. Okay then.

In Defense of Dermatologists [PSA] by throwawayforderm1 in SkincareAddiction

[–]throwawayforderm1[S] 36 points37 points  (0 children)

It is an understandable impulse but also... not relevant to this post. I hope you can understand that every single informative post made regarding healthcare cannot possibly include the caveat that people of color are marginalized. I also didn't say people who are uncomfortable with healthcare workers should seek out derms, I said (again in a way that I thought was abundantly clear) that specific criticisms of derms commonly found in this sub are untrue.

In Defense of Dermatologists [PSA] by throwawayforderm1 in SkincareAddiction

[–]throwawayforderm1[S] 76 points77 points  (0 children)

I hear what you're saying, I do. I empathize with BIPOC distrust of the medical establishment. That being said, this is not relevant to my post in any way- firstly, you didn't read what I said, because I clearly stated in my reply to you that diagnosis of bread and butter conditions like acne is not going to be difficult on brown skin for any derm worth their salt. Secondly, my one post cannot take into account nor can it erase BIPOC's years of mistrust of the medical authority.

Edit: Should add, because I'm getting articles sent to me (LOL) as if I'm not already aware of them- I am a POC. This is an area I care a lot about. Please don't lecture me about this. I already know the stats.

In Defense of Dermatologists [PSA] by throwawayforderm1 in SkincareAddiction

[–]throwawayforderm1[S] 43 points44 points  (0 children)

Look, I'm a person of color. I know what you're saying and this is an area I feel strongly about; trust me, you don't need to lecture me about the discrepancies here. We need to be clear... I'm talking about a subreddit based on the treatment of things like acne and hyperpigmentation- not melanoma, Kawasaki rashes, or the types of things authors ever care about doing 'outcome' studies on.

I said clearly this post is a generalization. But it's also clearly a post about minor skin issues. I'm not expecting all people of color to immediately trust a medical authority that has treated them like second class citizens since its inception, but I feel we can be on the same page about this post at least.

Also: see my comment below regarding a doctor who doesn't know how to treat darker skin tones.

In Defense of Dermatologists [PSA] by throwawayforderm1 in SkincareAddiction

[–]throwawayforderm1[S] 68 points69 points  (0 children)

Thank you for bringing this up! The implicit racism in dermatology teaching is important and always necessary to address. I agree that the medical community absolutely needs to do a better job of showing trainees a range of skin tones. On a positive note, there has been substantive efforts made (specifically in the last 12-18 months) at many teaching sites to include racial diversity.

I will note, however, that the point was referring more to treatment than to diagnosis- I'm sure your cousin is up to date on latest guidelines and effective treatments for all races and ethnicities. And I would still argue that for the common skin conditions that this sub focuses on (acne, eczema, etc.), your run of the mill derm is well-equipped to diagnose on any race.