I'm late to the party on this, but can't resist answering.

I want a doctor to be well-informed and up-to-date. When a doctor tells me to eat more carbs, or that a low-carb diet is dangerous and that whole grains are an important part of a balanced diet, that doctor instantly loses all crediblity with me. It's then awfully hard for me to trust that doctor with anything at all. Why should I go back? Clearly the doctor is uninformed or willfully ignorant.

I had a problem with shoulder, arm, and hand pain, and what the doctor recommended/prescribed did nothing. I had to figure out the answer to the problem myself and seek appropriate treatment. It's fine now, but no thanks to the doctor. I had debilitating knee pain - same thing. Medical advice turned out to be completely useless, so I had to hack that problem myself, too. It took me a while, but now I'm fine.

And now the diet thing! Sheesh. Why should I bother seeing a doctor at all, except for emergency cuts and things? I know there are good answers to this, but I find it difficult to go to doctors now. Why should some professional get paid for being useless when I can most often find better answers on my own? Yeah, I'm jaded. Yet I would so love to have a good doctor. For starters, I want a doctor who understands and supports the paleo diet.

So I would like a doctor to help restore my faith in physicians by being up-to-date. Nutrition and diet is an obvious starting point.

If I were a doctor I would have a library of recommended books right there in the waiting room, with books by Gary Taubes, Robb Wolf, and others on prominent display. There would be many copies of those, and patients would be encouraged to borrow them. Each patient would get a suggested reading list of books related to health, diet, fitness, etc. That would be a great start.

Now, Dr K, you have been a massive, massive help to me, and thank you so much for the fantastic content you put on your blog. I read and re-read it. Your advice works. I wish we had more doctors like you!

I'm late to the party on this, but can't resist answering.

I want a doctor to be well-informed and up-to-date. When a doctor tells me to eat more carbs, or that a low-carb diet is dangerous and that whole grains are an important part of a balanced diet, that doctor instantly loses all crediblity with me. It's then awfully hard for me to trust that doctor with anything at all. Why should I go back? Clearly the doctor is uninformed or willfully ignorant.

I had a problem with shoulder, arm, and hand pain, and what the doctor recommended/prescribed did nothing. I had to figure out the answer to the problem myself and seek appropriate treatment. It's fine now, but no thanks to the doctor. I had debilitating knee pain - same thing. Medical advice turned out to be completely useless, so I had to hack that problem myself, too. It took me a while, but now I'm fine.

And now the diet thing! Sheesh. Why should I bother seeing a doctor at all, except for emergency cuts and things? I know there are good answers to this, but I find it difficult to go to doctors now. Why should some professional get paid for being useless when I can most often find better answers on my own? Yeah, I'm jaded. Yet I would so love to have a good doctor. For starters, I want a doctor who understands and supports the paleo diet.

So I would like a doctor to help restore my faith in physicians by being up-to-date. Nutrition and diet is an obvious starting point.

If I were a doctor I would have a library of recommended books right there in the waiting room, with books by Gary Taubes, Robb Wolf, and others on prominent display. There would be many copies of those, and patients would be encouraged to borrow them. Each patient would get a suggested reading list of books related to health, diet, fitness, etc. That would be a great start.