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Why a Doctor Needs to Earn My Trust Before They Write Me a Prescription

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I had a friend tell me that she used to trust anyone who could write a prescription. So did I. Trust. That is a big word. Those five little letters in a row can be life-altering. Do you trust me? Do I trust you? Trust is a knife wrapped in a bow. A gift that can cut you and make you bleed.

In life there are buyers and there are sellers. You have to be willing to purchase what they are selling in order for that seller to continue selling. Does this make sense? The rule of supply and demand. We all have something to sell and we all have something to buy – that is what motivates us. The bottom line is do you trust the process, the person, the outcome?

I want to get well. I want the doctor to cure me! Why? Because I want to be healthy, return to the career I love and make money so I can buy stuff I want to buy. I busted my butt getting a college diploma and I haven’t gotten my just rewards! I’m sick and tired of being a “patient.” I’m sick of being the “buyer” of those things deemed necessary by a seller. Like medications, therapies, yoga mats, TENS units, etcetera. I want to be a seller for a change! I want to sell my services and get a big fat paycheck for the work I can be trusted to do! The work I was trained and educated to do.

What am I willing to do to become a seller? At one point, I was willing to do A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G! If I was told to eat a monkey, I’d eat a darn monkey! I trusted the people who were telling me to eat the monkey and I ate! Guess what? It didn’t work. I am not cured. Broken trust? Not for me! I went back, bleeding with hands held open for another helping. And I kept going back. After all, these people had prescription pads… Eventually, trust was slowly and sadly removed from my vocabulary.

Trust must now be earned. I don’t care if you can write a prescription or have several initials after your name. I do not care at all! You have to earn my trust. I’m not buying mindlessly anymore. I will listen and take your advice into consideration, but my purchasing power remains steadfastly with me.

I can read, I can research, I can weigh out options and make a list of pros and cons… I am smart. I am a consumer at this point in my life and I am well aware of the target that places squarely on my back. I’m the buyer. Within these confines, I need to do my due diligence! That isn’t just a good idea, it is imperative to my goal of getting as healthy as I can possibly be and living a good life.

You are smart, you can read, research and do your due diligence! Don’t mindlessly buy what the seller has to offer – it might be just a monkey.

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Originally published: November 30, 2017
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