Just because they say jump ...

I want to start off by saying that I truly value the role of medicine in society. I'd like to proactively deflect any perception of malice toward doctors by adding that one of my best friends is a hospital-based physician who's been in practice for many years.

But also please note the word "practice" in the previous paragraph, and as you move forward in your life, begin to note just how often you see or hear this term when reading about medical matters.

When I began writing a medical narrative in the summer of 2008, my doctor friend and I began to engage in even livelier intellectual discussions about the "practice of medicine" and the reasons why it's so ubiquitously referred to as the "art of medicine." Sure, there's plenty of science to it; no question about that. But so many things are not exact and our knowledge base increases exponentially on a daily basis thanks to medical research and, frankly, mistakes.

There are so many variables that go into formulating an opinion or diagnosis about a patient that the opportunities for error are truly endless. Consider these obvious few:

• Patient omission of facts or history
• Lack of patient knowledge about facts or history
• Mistakes in the lab
• Lack of or unusual variation of symptoms
• Incompetent doctoring

And those are the easy ones. A factor most patients never consider are what type of doctor they're seeing. For instance, if you're seeing a surgeon, chances are they're gonna want to cut. If you're seeing an allergist, everything is allergies. I speak from experience on both counts.

There's nothing wrong with seeing the board certified men and women who have achieved specialist status. They're a necessary part of the machine that struggles to keep all our manifold parts in working order. Just keep in mind that if you're a hammer, all the world looks like a nail.

Which brings me back round to the subject, which is simply this: Before you agree to any procedure or treatment that will forever alter your body and/or any of its unique chemistries, do your research. Get a second opinion. Ask questions and question everything. Check credentials. Check risks. Check the bleeping success rate!

Just because one doctor says jump, doesn't mean we must immediately dive headlong into the infinity pool of contingencies.