After 3 years and a pandemic, I am so excited to make this real. I was inspired by writings by a US doc who wanted a movement to #unbreakhealthcare. When I started, I posted the picture below and reflected about my experiences as a doctor having discussions in hospital quiet rooms: was there health promotion and health education steps we could take – so that we didn’t meet in there?
Since then, the disclaimers and pop-ups on the website and social media sites have always reminded followers that:
Medical discussion here is general information and does not substitute for consulting your own GP. Always call GP, out-of-hours GP service, local ED, or 999 if you are concerned about an unwell adult or child.
Many of you have written in great topics and questions for general health discussion. However, often my inbox had requests for personal medical advice. Which just can’t be done on social media.
“While I am a doctor, I am not your doctor.”
The doctor shortage means that waiting lists are long and appointments are too short. The gap in accessible and qualified healthcare is often filled by misinformation or unqualified advice. Healthcare has also become reactive – treating many lifestyle-related diseases as they arise or progress rather than preventing it or reversing it where we can with lifestyle changes. And the pandemic has highlighted how hard it can be to sift through health misinformation.
When I started this project in 2018, I had been inspired by Dr. Zubin Damania, a US doc, and his movement in 2017 to #Unbreakhealthcare . Dr. Damania’s work at that time advocated healthcare reforms he terms “Healthcare 3.0” It inspired me to start a discussion, even just in our corner of Ireland, about the doctor-patient relationship and shed light into some very dark corners of dangerous alternative practices, medical misinformation/scare-mongering and unethical profiteering that have developed in absence of traditional strong doctor-patient relationship. Modern healthcare is broken, in so many ways. In Dr. Damania’s model of Health 3.0, it is about connections of human relationships, but it’s no longer simply old-fashioned doctor-led from years ago or the current strictly budget and big data/stats. He advocates that actual patient outcomes matter, not just click-box “quality measures”. “Clinicians would be given the tools and autonomy to achieve the outcomes that matter to their patients; do the right thing, and let technology work in the background to enable and empower the doctor/nurse – patient relationship. This allows the emergence of real value, where cost, quality, and patient experience intersect.” This model, though, also “holds patients accountable to take control of their health, and they hold docs accountable to be their shepherds” (for example, helping sift through misinformation).
So, 3 years and a pandemic later, I’m going to step outside of the hospital and academia –and try to change healthcare in just one small clinic. This change means that if you’re ready, I can be your doctor. Welcome to Emdoc Health lifestyle medicine. A new model of care providing patient education services and focusing on modern lifestyle interventions to promote family health – mental, physical, and social well-being – and help you in the prevention and treatment of common diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, asthma, PCOS…
- Evidence-Based.
- Patient-led. Patient-Centered.
- Accessible.
- Affordable.
- Empowering patients to be informed advocates for their own health.
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