Episode 39: Medicine Isn’t Black and White: Understanding How You Fit In the Gray

In this episode, we dive into the messy, beautiful truth: medicine isn’t black and white—it lives in the gray. While bold, oversimplified health claims often go viral on social media, real patient care is far more nuanced. We explore why individualized care matters and how no two patients are exactly alike. From lifestyle medicine to functional and integrative approaches, we discuss how social media has changed the conversation—and why a flexible, compassionate, and personalized approach to health is more important than ever.

We also talk about the frustration many doctors feel—caught between a desire to provide deeper care and the very real constraints of time, insurance, and a system that isn’t built for individualized healing. Burnout is real, and it often stems from knowing what patients need but not being able to deliver it in a rushed, volume-driven model. There’s no one right way—and that’s okay. But in today’s healthcare landscape, it’s more important than ever to take ownership of your health and become your own best advocate.

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The content in this podcast is for general reference and educational purposes only. It is not meant to be complete or exhaustive, or to be applicable to any
specific individual’s medical condition. No information provided in this podcast constitutes medical advice and is not an attempt to practice medicine or to provide specific medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. This podcast does not create a physician- patient relationship and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please do not rely on this podcast for emergency medical treatment. Remember that everyone is different so make sure you consult your own healthcare professional before seeking any new treatment and before you alter, suspend, or initiate a new change in your routine.

Transcript

Episode 39: Medicine Isn’t Black and White: Understanding How You Fit In the Gray

[00:00:00] 

Before we start today's episode, I would like to quickly read you our podcast disclaimer. The content in this podcast is for general reference and educational purposes only. It is not meant to be complete or exhaustive or to be applicable to any specific individual's medical condition. No information provided in this podcast constitutes medical advice and is not an attempt to practice medicine or to provide specific medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

This podcast does not create a physician patient relationship and it's not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please do not rely on this podcast for emergency medical treatment. Remember that everyone is different, so make sure you consult your own healthcare professional before seeking any new treatment.

And before you alter, suspend, or initiate a new change in your routine.

Welcome to the starting gate. We're your host, Dr. Kitty Dotson and Dr. Sarah Sheets, two internal medicine doctors who spent years practicing traditional primary care. Over time, we realized something was missing from modern healthcare, a [00:01:00] real understanding of how everyday lifestyle choices impact overall health.

We will help you cut through the noise of the countless health influencers and their conflicting opinions because no matter who you follow, the basics of lifestyle medicine are at the heart of it all.

Kitty: And welcome back to the starting gate. We're your host, Dr. Kitty Dotson and Dr. Sarah Schuetz. So Sarah and I have been thinking about doing an episode about this for months, and this is gonna be a little bit different than most of the topics we talk about, but really wanted to take some time to discuss how medicine is gray.

It is really very rarely black and white, , I think frequently we want it to be black and white, and both as providers and as patients. We want medicine to be very clear and definitive, but in reality it's not.

We wanna talk about how social media is changing the way health information is shared for better or for worse. And really with medicine [00:02:00] becoming more divided and the public trust being in flux, we want to unpack where the different viewpoints are coming from and why the conversation feels so divided.

Sarah: We both are true believers. The more you understand , you can be a better advocate for yourself as well as just have less frustration. 'cause you understand maybe why you're getting the information than you are or why you don't get clear answers. And , another big hope of this show is just.

To bring back the idea of the art of medicine, and what that actually means in truly understanding that medicine is a personalized approach to caring for someone. And we cannot take that out of the aspect of healthcare and make everything depersonalized because no longer will people be.

Okay with the care they're receiving. when we talk about these most intimate parts of our [00:03:00] lives and when we are talking about our health, it really needs to have that personal touch. And that's , how medicine was started and that's where it needs to go back to. Yeah, 

Kitty: And so there are a lot of things where technology can help us in the medical field, but we still need that personal touch. And really what we wanna convey today is that everyone is different. And so never think that your medical needs are gonna be the same as anyone else's. 

Sarah: So to get us started, we just wanted to talk , broadly about the illusion of certainty that people may think medicine has.

We want, you know, it's not just patients, but doctors want these clear, definitive answers. But when it comes to real lives and real situations, that's usually not the case.

There's more ways to do something than just one, and each person may need a different option. And so that's why so many times I know people get very [00:04:00] frustrated. You can ask someone in the healthcare profession or even in the wellness industry as so what's the best diet? Or What supplement should I be taking?

Or what exercises should I be doing And you're gonna get 50 different answers. 

Kitty: There's very few things that come up in medicine where it's really clear. I always love like a strep throat visit 'cause we have really good swabs that can diagnose strep throat and it's pretty straightforward what you're gonna do to treat that. But there are not very many strep throat visits, most visits, the diagnosis is not clear there's many ways to treat it.

And then there's many potential ways that a patient could respond to that treatment. So , there are very few things that are actually straightforward and clear 

Sarah: Social media, the positive is it's bringing lots of health education out that maybe people didn't have good access to before. And so they're learning a lot, which is great.

I mean, We like to use social media to help promote education ourselves, [00:05:00] but on the downside is many times you are being fed information that is provided in a very clear cut. This is the answer for X, and that's just not true. Yeah, 

Kitty: Maybe it's because of my age and how the algorithm works for me, I've seen so many things.

This is how you lose body fat as a perimenopausal woman. How, why does that keep coming up? I get lots of those too. 

Sarah: So many, 

Kitty: but it just makes me laugh because each person where, where that comes up, it's do these five things, do these five things, and it's just so much more complex than that.

And it's okay to try to learn from those things that you see, but you really need to understand that this is just information coming at you. We hope that with this episode we can talk about how you can gather that information and use everything that's at your fingertips now, but still be able to take that and talk about it with your healthcare team so that [00:06:00] they can curate that information for you and really help you figure out what of that does apply to you and what 

Sarah: doesn't.

I don't have a doctor's visit with a patient anymore. Occasionally, but almost every visit we're talking about something that someone saw on social media. Is this true?

Yes or no? And so I think it's important to learn how to educate yourself on teasing through some of this information. So you don't fall a victim to bad education. once you've watched one video about something for a long period of time, you're only going to continue to get that same perspective on that topic because of how the algorithm works.

So it's not going to continuously give you a broad array of information so you can sift through it and you need to realize some people are not genuinely out there to help you. They're actually there just to sell stuff. That's very true. Yeah. So [00:07:00] every time you're watching social media one of the first things that I always tell people is, if you are watching watching something about health is, first of all, does this person have any health education?

Do they have a background? Have they had any schooling? Do they have credentials? Just start there because you need to be able to know, does this person even have enough background to be able to provide health education? 

Kitty: I think the other thing to think about is people can really make themselves sound like they know a lot Especially using studies or research that has been done in healthcare. And there have been so many studies out there and you can pick which ones you want to prove your point. And so I would really encourage you to listen to people that tell you, both sides tell you, here's what I've found that supports doing this.

Here's what I found that supports resistance training in women. Let's say that's [00:08:00] such a hot topic now. But here's what maybe we're lacking on that. Or here's where doing cardio may be beneficial. And so don't just listen to someone that makes a broad statement of the research says one thing.

Sarah: The other thing that I think makes someone more credible is when they talk about how maybe research has evolved because I think it's really important to. Listen to individuals that are willing to say, Hey, I used to do something one way, but we have learned so much and now I'm leaning towards, managing diabetes this way instead.

Because that means that they're open-minded, they're ready to listen to different advice and change with the changes that are occurring in information we're receiving. If someone stays on one philosophy their whole life, just because they have a business that's built around it and that's how they make their income, that is when you have to start [00:09:00] questioning whether or not they're actually paying attention to new research.

Yeah, 

Kitty: Another thing to think about that new research often. Might make us change how we address something. You know, Menopause has been the big one where we had been prohormone, then some research came out that made us all switch to no hormones and then were researches swinging the pendulum back toward prohormone again.

So having someone that is up to date and keeping up with all of that is really important. The other thing is that just because something is new doesn't mean it's the best. We're getting new medicines all the time for different diseases and have new treatments all the time, but just because something's new and it's the brand name doesn't necessarily mean that it's better than what we've been using.

Sarah: I truly think one of the best ways is to, as you learn things through all these [00:10:00] different avenues, whether it's podcasts, social media, if you feel like you've learned a lot, is to your own doctor about some of this information that you've found and asking, how does this relate to me?

They are able to sift through all of that information and understand how it actually relates to your specific situation. No one on social media is presenting something, knowing anything about your personal health. And that's where it becomes really scary to me is some people making very big changes just based off of something that they see on social media because.

That person didn't know anything about your background. They don't know anything about your family history, they don't know anything about your medicines, your current, other conditions And that is critical when we're making big decisions for our health.

Kitty: Yeah. And you may be coming to your provider with a way that you wanna treat something that's maybe unfamiliar to them. And so you also may need to give them time [00:11:00] to think about it in 

. In primary care, we treat so many different diseases that it is difficult to keep up with the latest on everything. So there were times when patients would come to me asking about an article that had come out or something that they'd seen, and sometimes I would just have to say, I can't give you an answer right here in the office today.

I really need to have some time to look at this on my own and read about it and think about if this is an option for you. So try to also come into it. If you are bringing this up to your doctor, know that they may not be up to speed on it. And and maybe just say that if you wanna take some time to think about this and read about it and let me know, I'll schedule a follow up in a few weeks.

Something like that would be helpful. 

Sarah: Having a collaborative approach with your doctors is only going to provide better care. So if you know giving them that time, if they are wanting to help you explore something that may not be something that they normally do, nothing wrong with that. The [00:12:00] fact that they may not know about it, but they're willing to work with you, I think that shows you right then and there.

You have a great healthcare provider because they're wanting to be a team and helping you reach your optimal health. Another big thing when it comes to social media, I always tell people, is. Boring. Does not sell. Boring does not get you lots of views. Selling the basics of lifestyle medicine does not make you a social media star, I'll tell you that.

No. So you have to remember when something is bold or extreme, of course it's gonna get more views, and of course you're gonna see more about it because it's extreme. It catches people's attention. Things that are quick fixes are always going to draw an audience to it, but just because someone has a huge following, just because someone gets lots of views, that doesn't make their information correct.

Kitty: Yeah. And it may be that maybe that thing did [00:13:00] make , a large impact on them, but for you it wouldn't. Yes. 

Sarah: Many times when people tell their own health journeys on social media, it can be very helpful in the sense that you are learning about something that may help one person. But you always have to remember that is an N of one.

And when we're doing medicine, we're usually having to make decisions based off of studies of a large population that's considering lots of different demographics as well as different conditions and other medicines, And it's really hard for someone to provide advice just based off one person's experience because we know that there's so many factors related to everyone's health.

Kitty: I think one thing too is people may not really realize how much. Thought that your doctor is giving to something for you. It may just seem like they listened for a minute and then gave you a prescription without much consideration. But there's usually a lot more going on in their head than you realize.

We are [00:14:00] trained to have a million thoughts pop into our head as soon as you say a certain word.

And then as you continue talking, we kind of start narrowing that list That automatically pops into our head down over time to things that we think well, this seems more likely. And then we may bring up what we think we need to do next, but sometimes it can seem to you like. We just spouted one thing off, but know that your doctor is often considering a lot of things silently, 

Sarah: that's just part of our training. We're trained to come up with differentials, whether it's for the condition that we're trying to diagnose or the coming up with different options for treatment and we're having to combine research and clinical experience .

It is a lot of information that you have to take in and then come up with an answer, and that's truly. The art of medicine. 

Kitty: The other thing that makes it hard and I think also confusing for patients is we have so many modalities for [00:15:00] testing at our fingertips now. And so I think a lot of times people just, wanna test And sometimes we don't need the test to prove it, or the test is just gonna be an extra cost to you, or it might confuse things. And so sometimes we need to go ahead with a treatment that we think would be helpful instead of doing a test. And I think that can feel frustrating to patients as well.

'cause they wanna have that confirmation . But sometimes trying something is better than even a test.

Sarah: The real world is full of ambiguous cases. Symptoms may not clearly fit one specific diagnosis. Test results may be conflicting. There may be limited evidence for treatments on a specific situation or 

And so it is complicated. It is not easy, it is not input information and get the answer out and everyone agrees that's the only way to do it. And I think that [00:16:00] sometimes when people hear someone in healthcare say, I don't think this has a clear answer that makes them feel uneasy, and I want. Our listeners to know that shouldn't necessarily be the case.

If someone says that, it may be because they are actually considering all these things and there isn't a clear answer. And it also shows that they're being honest with you. And so I know that sometimes, it makes people feel uneasy when they hear that.

I, it's I don't know that answer, but I need to look it up, or I need to think about it longer. That is important. We want to hear more of that. We need to hear more of that because there are things that we just don't know I want our listeners to just, be able to feel okay if they hear that and realize that is a time to open up a discussion with your healthcare provider about it.

 Okay, if you don't know, maybe I have seen things about X, Y, or Z. What's your thoughts on this? [00:17:00] And that collaborative approach is huge. You're going to receive better care when you're having these discussions with your doctor.

And it's not always just a blank answer for every question that you have. 

Kitty: Especially too, and I know we've mentioned this before, but letting them know what your goals are and what you're hoping will happen. If, let's say you're talking to your doctor about some sort of pain you're having and the doctor's not sure what's causing that, you've talked about all the, options and treatments that might work, or imaging that might help if you can let the doctor know what you're hoping to get to. Listen, doc, I know this isn't clear cut. I know we may have to do a lot of things. I have a trip planned my grandkids in three months. I know it may take time to figure all of this out.

I wanna be able to go on this trip in three months. That's really what's very helpful for them to help make the best decisions for you. So never be afraid to communicate [00:18:00] what your true goals are, even if you think that's not what they wanna hear.

Sarah: And I think in this realm it brings up lots of questions, and I know it's very hot topic in healthcare. It's just like, how does AI play in all this?

Because you would think it'd be really easy. I was like, oh, I can just diagnose myself. Let me put in everything that's going on into the system and let the computer tell me what's wrong with me. But that's why it can't do that, because there are things that maybe you don't even know are pieces of information that need to be obtained to actually come up with the correct diagnosis.

Kitty: I think AI is gonna help us tremendously in medicine as far as not missing things. But it doesn't know you as a person and it's not able to apply the knowledge that. Your physician has about you quickly. It may over time be able to do that more as it gets to know you. Or maybe you don't want it to know you, but know that your physician has [00:19:00] some knowledge of you that is not just coming from a computer.

It's if you come in saying, okay, I've already looked this up and this is what I think is wrong. Try not to get frustrated with your physician that may say I still need to ask these other questions, because there still may be other things that, that we're missing.

Sarah: And let's be honest, sometimes it's even more complex than that. Sometimes you have to do certain tests or see a specialist just because of insurance, I know many times people will get frustrated and I think we've talked about it on other shows I just need an MRI.

Yeah. Why do I have to go get an X-ray for this or that? And You also have to consider that part of knowing, hey, most of the time insurance isn't gonna cover these medicines or these tests or these imaging, and so you have to weigh that in as well. I think it's fine to consult AI and use it to help you be more knowledgeable about your health, or even if you have something, a disease that's been difficult to diagnose, to give you more ideas to give to your [00:20:00] doctor, but also understand that AI is not the end all be all, so your Dr.

Kitty: May have a different answer for you than what you get if you're plugging things in and trying to find your own answers on ai. They are considering a lot of other things too, and personal information about you when they're making decisions.

So again, I think it's a tool for everyone to use, but it's a tool. It's not the answer all the time.

Kitty: I think another Thing that gets confusing is there's a lot of new fields and, these new fields are particularly popular in social media, so we're hearing about 'em a lot, but functional medicine, longevity medicine, lifestyle medicine, which we both love and it seems like they're very different from what we think of as conventional or traditional medicine.

A lot of what underlies. Both of these is the same, and you don't need to be in a camp of [00:21:00] one or the other, but what is going to help you benefit your 

Sarah: health? And again, people want black or white answers. And that it's just it. It's gray. It's gray. Because depending on what you walk into a doctor's office and are asking for, the person that's in front of you, the type of training they've had, you are only going to get one specific type of response.

I'll give an example. You know there are many times that you could go and see a primary care doctor and you have hypertension, and the only thing that is provided is a medicine. And there's no other advice given. You could go see another primary care doctor and. They give lots of advice on, Hey, you should change this in your diet.

You should be exercising, let's talk about your sleep. All these different pillars of what we call lifestyle medicine. The fact is of these things are a part of traditional medicine, but they [00:22:00] have gotten pushed aside so far into the corner we don't give a focus in medical training for it hardly.

They have one lines and guidelines with not a lot of detail it's not necessarily that don't approve them or think that they can make a difference, it's just we have neglected them. 

Kitty: And I think this is hard too, because even when doctors do have time to talk about lifestyle changes, it doesn't mean that patients are going to do what they're told.

We can spend more time teaching doctors and giving them more time with their patients to try to educate people on lifestyle change. But it's really only part of the problem creating behavior change requires more. It requires learning how to have successful habit change, and it also requires improving the environments we're in too. . . It can be disheartening to doctors sometimes if they spend a lot of time and energy educating someone on some lifestyle changes that could have a huge [00:23:00] impact on their health. And then that patient comes back time and time again, never having enacted any of these and.

I think sometimes that's because patients just don't really understand how to do it and how to make a behavior change that they can stick to. And sometimes it's just because people have no interest in making those changes. And for doctors, if they spend a lot of time counseling on this and, and then rarely ever see anyone take the advice, they can become frustrated and just quit offering that advice to people.

. But a lot of people are still looking for this advice, or maybe they weren't in the past, but now they've seen a loved one suffer a heart attack or struggle with dementia, and now they're ready to listen and motivated to make those changes.

So that's where really communicating with your doctor is important too. When you do feel like you want to make lifestyle changes, make sure you [00:24:00] let them know.

And if they can give you advice, great. And if they can't, they can point you in the right direction for how to get that information.

 lot of people are searching for something else. I. Healthcare became so dominated by medications as a way for us to treat things. And we need medicines, absolutely we do, but I think a lot of people got frustrated with feeling like they were always given a prescription for whatever problem that they had.

And so a lot of people have switched and swung the other way and really looking for alternative answers. And what I hope you can feel from this is we need both. In order to give you the best health we need both. And so just because your provider may be someone that's less familiar with alternative measures of treatment, it's really important to let them know that you still trust the advice they're giving you, but that you're seeking some other knowledge from other providers as well. And then definitely communicate that [00:25:00] back if you go see another doctor who gives you supplements or prescribes certain exercise routines or diet to you.

Communicate that back with your doctor because they're gonna wanna make sure that doesn't affect the medications they're giving you or any other plans that they have for your health. And that way you're letting them know that you respect their opinion on the other advice that you're getting as well.

Because you really want any healthcare professional that you're seeing to know what the other doctors are saying or other practitioners, dieticians, therapists are saying so that everyone's working together for the optimal health for you. But don't just assume because your doctor is traditionally trained that they don't want you to seek other help from people that have other knowledge 

Sarah: as well.

And I know something that I have conversations with patients regularly is, . There are times that we have to have medicine [00:26:00] and we have now, I don't know, there's, there is a whole perception that all medicines are bad and we should avoid them, no matter what the situation is.

And. That's false too, right? , We want to swing in one way or the other, but we need to sit in the middle and realize that we need to learn to lean into some of these lifestyle principles and actually, you know, work on behavior change to try to heal people in some situations.

In others, there's only a medicine that can fix the problem. There's only a surgery that can fix the problem and we need to accept that's the truth. And it's not one way or the other. It's actually we need both. 

Kitty: And I think this is something that doctors struggle with a lot too. Oh yes. I think, personally and I think of myself as a traditional doctor, I just also love these other lifestyle and alternative modalities to help patients.

But I think a lot of conventional doctors feel [00:27:00] some mistrust when it comes to these other ways of treating things, which are different from what we learn in medical school and in residency. And some of that may come from social media and feeling like some people are trying to profit off of patients looking for answers.

But we also have to understand that patients that are seeking answers elsewhere are doing that because they haven't gotten. The benefit or the answers that they needed. And there are times when conventional medicine may not have a clear treatment, in which case these other modalities can be extremely helpful.

And so as a conventional doctor, you have to open your mind to that too. 

Sarah: Nothing is more frustrating for patients. And I really empathize is when we have done testing, we've done the workup, we can't find an as an answer via a test. There's not a test that gave me an answer, but you still don't feel [00:28:00] well.

I cannot blame someone for looking for other answers and reaching out to different resources because I didn't find an answer for them. And I think that is where. We just try to pick sides and point fingers and it's, we gotta stop that. We really have to learn that we all need to learn from each other and know our strengths and our weaknesses.

And there's sometimes that traditional medicine has not spent enough time and energy figuring out, how to solve some of these issues for patients that have just rapidly started to develop because of the environment we live in and the lifestyles we live. And 

Kitty: I think it's on an institutional level too, , coming from practicing in a large hospital based system, you're used to having a certain.

group of people you can refer to that you know their insurance is gonna cover. And they're within your system and you'll be able to communicate. [00:29:00] And one thing we hope to get across on this podcast is that there are a lot of people outside of our little bubble that can help you.

There are nutritionists, there's physical therapists, there's gym owners, there's restaurant owners, there's lots of people out there that may have that answer for the patient that's not finding what they want. And it's hard for us to know where to send them. 

Sarah: Yeah. When you, you haven't met these people, haven't experienced what they have to offer.

It's really hard for a doctor to refer to someone if they don't know anything about the outcomes or the risk. . So supporting something that they've never. Having any information about, they can't do it because they don't know if it's gonna pose any risk.

'cause they don't even really know what it's about., 

Kitty: All the time, I feel like I hear our system is broken. And agree that it is. I don't think we're in a system where we're giving the best to patients and allowing patients to seek care in the different areas to help them.

But how we fix that is also something [00:30:00] that is really uncertain. 

Sarah: I am very loud about feeling that our healthcare system is so broken. I can go on a soapbox just talking about that. But then the next question I'm usually asked is like, how do we fix it? And I really think that this is also a very gray area on how to fix it because is so complex that.

There's not one answer, there's not one problem. We can't point at one thing. I would love to be like, oh, if we fix insurance, it would all go away. Oh, if we just changed how hospital administrations worked, it would all go away. Or if we fixed our environment that we live in, it would all go away.

That isn't the case. We've spent years creating the system that we work in now. It's gonna take us years to fix it because we have just put so many levels of problems into our system that we can't easily turn a switch and make it right. 

Kitty: I think that's why now really more than ever, [00:31:00] it's so important to be your own.

Advocate. I know we talked about this in one of our very first shows, but it's so important for you to know your health history and know how you respond to medications, know what's transpired for you, and know who to talk to about it, because things are gonna be changing. I do think we're gonna see changes, and some of them might work out and some of them might not.

And so I think that's, it's very important for you to take ownership of your own health and whether that's, through following up with your doctors, making sure you're on top of your screenings and your labs and. But also taking ownership of your habits and then taking ownership of keeping up to some degree with what's happening, what's new in the research and what's happening in healthcare, so that you can know how to best advocate for yourself and for your family.

Sarah: . We have to enter healthcare and be a part of our care.

I know for many years, decades and [00:32:00] decades, you would go see your doctor. You knew that they were able to know everything about you, knew everything in the chart. You just showed up and everything was correct. But , that's not the case. Care has gotten so complicated. There's no way for.

Every healthcare provider to even wrap their head around all the data that's in these medical records as well as all the things that are rapidly advancing, So you will receive better care if you invest time and energy, into understanding your care. Yeah, you would not 

Kitty: believe if you're someone that's in healthcare, you'll totally hear us on this.

But if you're someone that's not, you would not believe what comes up when we open your electronic medical record. There is so much data that it is truly overwhelming. It is oftentimes hard to find what you're actually looking for. And that's where you may be frustrated feeling like, why is the doctor asking me this?

I know it's in my chart. [00:33:00] And you might feel like, Ugh, they must not be taking the time to really think about me and look at my chart ahead of time. But sometimes there is just so much to go through, especially if you're someone that's seen a lot of different specialists that I think being on top of it and really making sure you can say, this is what I'm concerned about today is really important.

Sarah: Another thing, we touched on it a little bit when we were talking about social media, but in our specific Aspect of lifestyle medicine, I feel like patients can get really frustrated because they can go see one doctor and they tell 'em, you should eat this or you should do this.

And then they see another doctor and then they see someone on social media is tell 'em one thing and then they see a health coach and they hear another and a trainer another. And you can get 10 different aspects of opinions. And the reason is, when it comes to things related to lifestyle, research has just.

Been done much differently with that compared to [00:34:00] medicines. Medicines are something that is really easy to do a specific trial in to do a placebo trial and do side by side comparisons, But when it comes to lifestyle related things, it gets very complicated because many times we can't put people in a bubble and follow their lifestyles and make sure that they're executing X, y, or Z behavior.

Nobody's gonna make a lot of money if we tell you to eat more broccoli. So doing doing studies on, eating more plants in general is not something that's gonna have a ton of money poured into it because there's not gonna be a return back on that research. And so a lot of times, studies are much smaller when it comes to lifestyle related things, and they may not be as large of a trial that sometimes we see when we look at pharmaceutical studies.

Kitty: And that's why, again, just like we were saying it, it doesn't have to be one or the other. [00:35:00] So know that just because you decide to treat your hypertension with medication does not mean that you don't need to make lifestyle change and vice versa.

Just because you decide I'm gonna make lifestyle change, it might not be enough for you. And you might have other reasons why you might need lifestyle change and medicine, but they go together. 

Kitty: we say this a lot, but remember to stop and reflect and think about it because some of these things that we recommend, whether it's doing things to improve your management of stress, doing things to improve your sleep, there's not always a clear measurable.

End point for you to check as opposed to checking your blood pressure,

Sarah: yeah, and I know we talk a lot about self reflection on this podcast because it's one of our best tools when we do personal experiments and try something new and see the result on ourselves, that's [00:36:00] amazing data to have. But many times we do something new and we don't take that time to reflect, be like, oh, I did that.

Maybe I was doing that just to lose weight. But then I realized I'm sleeping better, I have more energy, and you realize I actually got other benefits than what I was even trying to target sometimes. 

Kitty: . So I know we're a little all over the place today 'cause we just wanted to kind of give our thoughts about all of these different things. But what we hope that you are taking away from this is know that your doctor is thinking about lots of different things for you and trying to think of the best way to figure out what's wrong with you.

Figure out the best way to test it and figure out the best way to treat it. But there's a lot of thought that goes into that. And that's something that you're not getting if you're just looking at things on social media or you're just plugging in your symptoms to , some sort of online diagnosis machine.

Sarah: And in today's healthcare [00:37:00] system I think it's important to recognize the massive amount of burnout. And some will even use the words moral injury that's occurring in healthcare. And that's not because healthcare providers are out there to be an enemy to you. It's because healthcare providers are struggling every day giving the care they want to and balancing that with the care they're able to provide. And that's just because we've created a system that is such a monster, that there is very little individual preference or ability to create a environment that a physician or any other healthcare provider not just physicians the best selves and care for their patients in the way that they want to. It's no longer in their control. And that has changed over the years. , I think that's another reason it's making [00:38:00] medicine harder and harder to understand. Because sometimes the care you get is not really the care that.

People wanna provide. It's just all that they're able to, because of time constraints, because of insurance, they can't even prescribe or order the tests that they want to. And it, it makes medicine confusing because it's so darn complicated and it's really taken away from that patient physician relationship because the physician's no longer able to guide the relationship like they used to.

 It is so different and it is just muddy the waters and everything related to healthcare and made it complicated to the point that so many people in the healthcare profession no longer receive any joy from the, their job. And that was the whole reason they went into that profession to begin with, was to care for people, to make people better and.

It is hard showing up for a job every day when you [00:39:00] don't feel like you're able to do that. 

Kitty: So know that you're on the same team as your healthcare team. A lot of times I think patients just feel frustrated by the system. They're not getting the care they want. They having to pay a lot of money for what they feel like is just a few minutes with their doctor.

They're not able to get the medicines or treatments that they want, or if they need physical therapy, it's costing 'em an arm and leg and it can almost feel like you as the patient are against the medical team. Know that your medical team feels the same way. They are also extremely frustrated for you.

They don't wanna have just those five minutes with you. They wanna have more time. They want you to have access to all the information you need to improve your strength and to change your diet. But they may not control whether seeing a dietician is covered under your insurance, or they may not have a lot of control over how much time they can spend with you.

And so try to view it and understand that [00:40:00] they are likely frustrated too, and you can be on the same team with them. Instead of thinking about it as me 

Sarah: versus healthcare, you really wanna come at it as how can we navigate these obstacles together? What do you need from me?

And these are some of the answers I need from you. How can we work as a team there's not gonna make anything go more smoothly. And I. An appointment in today's healthcare system. Then asking your doctors like, how can we accomplish these goals together? What, What can I do and what do you need to help?

Gimme the best care, because you may not know to ask that, and they may not bring it up. , 

Kitty: And also make use of the other people in the office. A lot of the medical assistants and staff members may know things even that your doctor doesn't. 

So ask them, do you know of anywhere I can get help with this? But also understand that they're too, are overwhelmed. They have a lot on their plate that they have to get done every day. So try to [00:41:00] come at them with kindness and understand that they may have to get back to you. They may not have the answer right away.

Everything in medicine feels like it needs to be answered right that second. 

Sarah: And I think that's just our world and the technology that we have. We have gotten so used to fast answers , right or wrong and everything just being so definitive and we cannot look at medicine that way.

And I think the more you are able to accept. It's not like that, the better off you're going to be and the easier it's going to be. Navigating the system today and taking that ownership as well in your own care. It can help you receive better care with that knowledge. So to wrap this up, there's a couple of things I just want for you to reflect on as you listen here in this podcast is think about the times that maybe you have been [00:42:00] frustrated with healthcare or confused with information you've received from healthcare .

Was it because got too many different answers? Was it because you. Didn't have time, actually breaking it apart and see where the system may have failed You and I say that because the next time you enter in healthcare, may be you approach it differently and look for different wisdom from a different type of person, and that might be what helps you have more success.

Because it is so complicated today, and I know I spend a lot of time with my current patients, just teaching them how to advocate and get good healthcare because that's where we are today. And so we need to learn from our own interactions in the system and figure out how we too can get the best care.

Kitty: And I think that's the allure of social media a lot of times because if we are getting [00:43:00] confusing information from healthcare, we can look at social media and see someone say, here's your answer. It's clear. It's just this. And so we're just asking you, don't fall for that. It might be the right answer for you.

It's possible, but don't just think this is definitely the right thing. Don't rely on it and use that as a tool to help you when you're working with your healthcare team, the most powerful thing you can do is to stay curious, stay informed, and stay engaged in your own health. we want you to feel like you're in control of your health. 

Sarah: It is so critical. It is so important, it's so hard to relate things that are presented to the masses, to you on a personal level.

And so we need to stop overgeneralizing everything because every piece of your healthcare should be personal to you. 

Kitty: Really what we want you to take away is that doctor wants the best for you, but they may not be able [00:44:00] to.

Give you everything that they want or have the time to do that in the current medical environment. And they may not have the knowledge that you're looking for if you're looking for advice on lifestyle change or other non-traditional topics. And so you should definitely go out and search for that advice.

 If you're searching for it online or on social media, make sure you take all of that with a grain of salt. It's what we're saying. There's good advice out there, but there's also bad advice. You can go look for other healthcare professionals as well , but relay that back to your doctor.

Always keep them in communication so they know what you're doing and that they can continue to best advocate for you and realize you are a team, even though sometimes it feels like it's difficult to make all the parts connect in the medical system. So I hope this episode was helpful just to get a better idea of what goes through different doctor's heads.

But if you have any questions about our [00:45:00] ramblings today um, just click that button that says, send us a text. Or if you wanna know more about this topic, definitely let us know. next week we are really shifting gears because I cannot believe that it's even time to talk about this, but that is back to school.

So we are going to be talking about how we get ready to head back to the academic calendar. 

Sarah: We are so excited. We were lucky enough to have three Fayette County principals come in and do a podcast with us and talk about back to school and how to help navigate those few weeks of school and those jitters that our kids get as well as how parents can help support their kids and get the most out of their education.

It will be a great show and for anyone that has children that are getting ready to enter either K through 12 because we had representation across the ages in that show, be sure to tune in because there's a lot [00:46:00] of good information in that podcast.

Kitty: We'll see you next time.