Accessing your personal power inside today’s medical model
In the year 2024, it’s no longer a hot take that our “healthcare” system is broken here in the US. We all know this. If you live with chronic illness or chronic pain, you know the ins and outs of this more than most, and your views have been hard-earned, trauma-laden, and have possibly put you into serious financial stress or debt.
But, here we are.
As individuals on a day-to-day basis, we still have to interface with this system. And, the system isn’t ALL bad. There are no absolutes. For me, it’s not an exaggeration to say that I wouldn’t be alive without Western medicine and our medical system. I had bacterial meningitis at age 1, on my actual first birthday, and was flown via medevac to a hospital that could treat me with a spinal tap, medically-induced coma, and an experimental IV antibiotic. I made it out alive and at the time with no discernable side effects, and for that I’m of course eternally grateful. Western medicine and our medical system does serve some purposes extremely well. It’s worth noting as well that hospitals and doctors’ offices are full of incredibly smart, hard-working, selfless people who are doing exactly what they’ve been taught and who are operating as ethically as possible. None of what I’m about to share reflects any kind of moral failure of the individuals inside of this system. It’s all about the subtle power structures that undergird the system and inform so much of how we approach it.
Societally we assign a great deal of role power to MDs and this can frequently involve handing over our personal power in exchange for (a false sense of) certainty and safety. Implicitly, our society teaches us that:
MDs know everything
We should listen to any advice we get from an MD and follow it
MDs know better than non-MDs
If we listen to MDs, everything will be OK
Of course MDs know a lot and they have undergone extensive education and training that is no small thing. However, what we frequently miss in all of this is that:
MDs operate from the scientific method
… And what we call scientific fact is theory that hasn’t yet been disproved
Additionally, when we receive a medical opinion from an MD, they are essentially plugging us as unique individuals into a statistical probability model that may not have included people like us in its genesis
MDs also operate from what they have seen or not seen in their clinical practice
… And their patient outcomes will likely be limited by their beliefs about what is and is not possible and clinical observations on prior outcomes
For example: If you take a doctor’s word that reversing an autoimmune disease isn’t possible for you, and then continue to work with that doctor, you are extremely unlikely to reverse your autoimmune disease because that doctor’s medical framework and treatments have not produced that outcome before … which is why they have that medical opinion. Oftentimes this self-fulfilling prophecy exists.
Doctors’ opinions are extremely important. And, they are opinions, not facts or inevitabilities.
Here are some mindset and conversation tips for interfacing with the medical model in a way that retains your personal power, self-knowledge, and inner knowing about what is true for you and what is possible for you:
When you speak with your doctor, use language that reflects your understanding that what they are telling you is their opinion and is based on what they’ve seen in the past:
“What is your medical opinion on this?”
“Based on the outcomes you’ve seen in your practice, what do you think is possible for me here? How confident are you in that?”
Hold tight to your inner knowing
You are the world’s foremost expert on you. You are the world’s foremost expert on your inner experience and what it is like to inhabit your body. Do NOT let a doctor’s opinion undermine your self-knowledge
Seek multiple and diverse opinions
Get opinions from several different MDs
Consult functional MDs if your resources allow
Consult other medical professionals like Chiropractors, Acupuncturists, Ayurvedic Physicians, Nutritionists, etc
Don’t be afraid to do your own research
Consult research literature for yourself - not WebMD and not Reddit, but peer-reviewed randomized control trials
Look for opinion pieces from doctors who may have gone outside of the conventional model or system and have seen different results
Do this ONLY when regulated and not in a state of fight/flight, as it can lead to health anxiety and catastrophic thoughts related to health/life if misused
The uncomfortable truth is that there will always be a gap between what is capital-T True and what our human minds know and have agreed upon as scientific fact. An MD cannot give you utter certainty. Hold onto your hope. Hold onto your inner knowing. And keep going.