i think this is large part due to the horrific healthcare system we have here in the US. I have personally witnessed family struggle to get help from doctors because they don't interact with a patient's health outside of immediate action items like filling a prescription, writing a summary, charting, writing a referral, etc. They spend 0 time looking into what could actually be wrong with them outside of their immediate knowledge/guess. I would like to think this is due to the shortage of doctors we have here (self inflicted) and the high demands we place on them. It really just sucks to be told to take some med, wait 3 months, and then have to communicate for them between doctors while filling out the same form 3 times.

Yeah. Especially in the era of doctor ChatGPT.

Sometimes patients will also have an expired prescription from a different doctor, and they want a top-up. Good doctors check. Just because some other doctor prescribed some drug 3 months ago doesn't mean its actually the right choice, or the right choice now.

Its not just a US thing. I have a few GP friends here in Australia. They complain about it too.

In The Netherlands, the joke (mainly amongst expats), well actually frustration, is that they just send you home with some paracetamol and come back after two weeks if the complaints don’t stop.

As someone from The Netherlands myself, I’m fairly frustrated with our healthcare system being like this, optimizing for GPs being the gatekeeper to the specialist healthcare system, and as such being super reluctant to actually help us.

To be clear: one of my siblings is a GP and they themselves are frustrated by this as well but can’t change the system. It’s the half privatized / half socialized toxic combination that stings here.

I had to go to another country to get some of my symptoms taken seriously.

To be clear: no amount of “but I’ll pay myself for this study” helps. It’s just not possible. It’s super moronic.

Never mind the fact that specialist healthcare is super distributed, without any central oversight, and you have to behave like your own project manager when you’re being taken care of.

Healthcare is a mess in most of the developed world, probably because it’s incredibly expensive.

>the running joke is that they'll advise you to "get some fresh air and go for a walk" even if you just broke your leg in half

Same in the Netherlands. Except it's not a joke and I've met enough people who've suffered avoidable long-term effects by apathetic doctors, including yours truly.

I also come from a country where the doctor decides the prescription.

But you might have prior experience and preference.

A friend of mine always asks "Hey, can you bring antibiotics back?" when I go on vacation somewhere where access is easier.

Doctors here will give you a hard time if you want it.

I think that's how it should be. But sometimes you know you need antibiotics.