Academic OB/GYN

As a physician, I occasionally encounter patients who feel like they know a great deal more about medicine than they actually do.  Sometimes its a family member of a patient.     Occasionally they are right, in that they have a particular cache of knowledge about a particular condition that surpasses me.  In those circumstances, such patients or family members are able to augment their care.   Far more often, however, their expertise is far less than they think.

For example, I once cared for someone who clearly needed a blood transfusion.  A family member was in strong opposition, mostly because that family member was Jehovah Witness, even though the patient was not.   That family member presented all kinds of information about alternatives to blood transfusion, and clearly right from a pamphlet they had read.  At a fundamental level, said family member believed that there was always an alternative to blood transfusion and it was never actually necessary.
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