Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / June 30, 1979, edition 1 / Page 7
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Choosing A Doctor ' As a physician, when I look for a doctor for myself, I go to those considered the best in their respective fields. I look for the same for my patients and I pride myself; an never sending or referring a patient to someone that I : would not personally go to or send my family to. But ' iow then is the average, non-medical person to chose a ioctor. Generally I think most people go to doctors for :he wrong reasons and likewise, choose doctors for the Wong reasons. ; Here is a sample list of things patients night look for in a doctor (the order does not reflect . priority): . - ' - " v Credentials." All physicians should have prominently displayed or readily available for reference a list show ng diplomas from college and medical school, ca ificate.of internship "training and other post graduate :raining, an unrestricted license tQ practice medicine in :he state where hisher practice is located, and any other ' 5oard certification or, specialty training completed? Don't let the phone book be your guide since all who 11 themselves doctors aren't doctors of medicine. Affiliations. Membership in national, state, and local nedical societies is nice but may not have any bearing mi one's competence. Many M.D.'s simply cannot af ?ord the cost of joining professional organizations or nay have philosophical disagreements with these groups )ut this does not mean the doctors are not good physi cians. .' " v ; Hospital Privileges. If' you choose a doctor who ioesn't engage in some type of hospital practice, you nay often need to have two physicians one to provide imbulatory or out-side of the hqspital care and, the se :ond to provide, you with care should you require lospitalization. Always ask doctors what their-policy is io that you know and can make provisions as necessary 'or any illness you may have. Competency. It is hard for the public to judge com-, jetency as it is often' difficult for the medical communi y to do this well. If a person's credentials are in order, ne must hope that" the person is competent. Profes sional affiliations and hospital privileges do require cer ain minimum standards of their members. Board cer ification in a speciality means that doctor, has been fur her examined by a group of colleagues and found to lave a fund of knowledge compatible with that special y. - . .- , '; Professional Reputation. Reputations can be made or )roken by personality alone. It is not wise to believe jverything one hears simply because you can't hear both sides of the story. In college I went to a doctor who had PGCYACLE A Closer Cook ly ADA 13. FISHEI a horrible disposition and bedside manner, but he was competent; I paid him for his competency not his per sonality. It is ideal when one finds niceness in a physi cian who is competent but if given a choice, always prefer competency.. ' " ' - Primary vs. Specialty Doctor. Being a Family Doctor I am biased and feel that patients do a great disservice to themselves in. taking their headache to the neurologist,' their heart to the ai(Si6Ioti(;dv-itterus.Q the gynecologist; etc; This is, a; piecemeal approach to medicine and your body. You as a patient need someone who can take a look at the total you. Your uterus or heart or emotions do not function independent of the other parts of your body each has some effect on the other. ' Every patient should have a primary care or family doctor who should have a good "working relationship with the specialists. This type of doctor should be able to take care of 90 of the more common complaints patients may have with referrals being made as necessary. ..:.. ..'.' . Doctors and friends. Though we do develop at tachments to pur patients, it is most difficult to be ob jective in treating our own families and close friends. If you know a physician personally, you may ask himher to recommend a doctor if you don't know any. Try not to pick and prod doctors about their colleagues who you may or may not like since things can often get taken out of context and may create more confusion than it helps. Pleasant Offices. You're paying good money to get taken care of and your doctor should have a presentable and clean office in which to see you. did blood stains on the wall, more than six months out-dated magazines for you to read, rude office personnel are matters one should not have to tolerate. Good and Available Service. If you have to wait more than two hours to see any physician, you are due an ex planation unless of course you missed your appptotment or had no appointment. If you have questions you should feel free to ask them and feel you'll get an understandable answer. If you disagree with your bill or the cost of care, you should not hesitate to ask for a detailed explanation of the fees charged. Doctors should be willing fo provide' you with copy of their fees for services rendered. If the doctor or an organization has contracted with you for your care, you should know what to do in case of emergency or when the office is closed. If medical 'assistants, nurse practitioners, physician's" assistants, students, etc. will participate in your care, you should know this and may exercise your right to refuse care from them if so desired. (Please remember that we all have to learn and if you refuse such now you are limiting the training opportunities for future health care personnel). Confidentiality. You should have the right to pour your soul out to your doctor without worrying about it. You may also request the right to review your medical records. You must realize that when you accept third party payments from medicaid, medicare, insurance' companies, etc. you may be giving up the right to the confidentiality of some of the material in your medical records. , . . Informed Consent. You should know at all times what you are being treated for. You should never take medicine without understanding why it was prescribed. On the other hand, you should realize it is impossible for any doctor to define all the risks and benefits to hisher treatment plan. If your doctor will not tell you what heshe feels is wrong with you or share hisher jAT.JUNE 39,1979 THCAnSLK:ATK.;ZS-7 concernsabout your health, find yourself another doc tor. ' Do not consent to anything you do not understand. If you are being treated for high blood pressure and never had blood drawn (to check electrolytes and kidney funo tion) or your urine checked; if you have diabetes (sugar) and haven't had monitored your diet, your urine, and your blood sugars; if you for any reason question what i? being done, ask questions! In this day and age of malpractice, physicians are quite aware of their respon sibility to keep you informed on what your health status is; on the other hand we can't read your minds and if ' you don't ask your questions we will not know what your concerns are. Please remember; where yew own health and personal welfare are concerned, no question is too dumb or too stupid. Diagnostic Studies. You should know and ask, what if any laboratory studies are being performed, what is . being searched for, and what the results are. Second Opinions. Sometimes we . overdo - it and sometimes we don't. If you disagree with your treat ment or would like another opinion do not hesitate to ask for one. Having one's uterus out for fibroids alone is seldom good medicine so get a second opinion. If you're : told that once your tubes are tied they can be undone, iind yourself another doctor. If you are taking more than six medicines which are prescribed and have more than two doctors treating you, it's time for you to find a family doctor or primary care physician who can co ordinate your health care. Don't ko to doctors who tell you what you want to hear, go to those who will tell you the truth. Follow your doctor's instructions when you go and be honest with your doctor. If you lost faith in your doctor, it's time to look elsewhere. No matter how competent one is, if the patient loses faith in us, hisher care is compromised. Most importantly believe in your opinions too, for they count, however don't be rigid and inflexible in your thinking. As a black physician, one of the things I am less than amused by is the number of patients who refuse to go to good black doctors. We too are competent and it is high . time that this was appreciated by both doctors and pa tients. It is sad when I see patients who will not believe what a black physician says, but if a white physician tells them the same thing they will buy it. There are some competent black doctors out here and with a little support, we . can have more. Black people wake up! Your health care is your responsibility more than anyone else's. If you don't protect your" health, no one else can. resident Carter left on June 23 for the Economic Summit Conference in Tokyo. The trip will also include" i visit to Korea with a three-day vacation in Hawaii. He wll return to this country July, 5. The one highly loticeable thing about all of these trips, other than the sne to Africa, is that Mr. Carter has not included any slacks. Dr. Brezinski stated in the pre-summit briefing, :hat questions of the Vietamese and Indochian refugees, who are colored peoples will be discussed, Japan and Korea are peopled with colored persons. The Chinese question will be considered and conditions of the developing nations, which certainly will include Africa. rt, one wonders, if the United States can have its full mpact upon these colored peoples of the world when it las, since the country's beginning, had a large black constituency, and they see no one taking part in negotia :ions but whites. This could make these colored peoples wonder if the United States and European countries really consider them as equals or are they only dealing with them out of ."necessity . These actions do give come credence to the statement made to me, a few days' ago, jy an official of the Saudi Arabian Embassy; wh6' said :he United States and Europe are still interested in white FE10OTM . globafcontrol. I DID ASK Dr. Brezinski about this matter after the briefing and he said that things have changed now; that once there werre white interests in colonialims, but not now. The only difference apparently now is that whites' are no longer able to colonize, but that there certainly seems to be no longer able to colonize, but that there certainly seems to be intense effort for white world dorttinjrtioTfr:; ,r!;... ..-.v.vO m-'--".---" ' Before the summit meeting, the President hopes to have a private meeting with Mrs. Margaret Thatcher, tv ALftEftA i. HA Dlf.nn I the Prim Minister of England and Prime minister of England and Prime Minister Clarke of Canada. These are new heads of their respective countries and Mr. Carter welcomes the opportunity of a close conversation with. them. At the summit, there will be discussions on the new centrality of the emerging role of the Asian countries. The conference will also take up the urgent need for 1 broader 'ecohmic.manageineht' of the world economy. Particularly will the energy problem be considered. New energy technology will be explored. The question of Blacks Low on White I House Totem Pole Although fifteen blacks hold important posts on the White House, staff, none is of sufficient importance to have his or her name placed on the directory in the front hallway. It begins with Hamilton Jordan, top Assistant to the President; continues down through Joseph (Jodie) L. Powell, Press Secretary; and on to Mrs. Esther Peterson, Special Assistant to the President for Consumer Affairs. Hideen Forces in Uganda? Are there hidden forces in Uganda out to restore the Indians to their traditional place as the shopkeepers and entrepreneurs of the country? This is what Idi Amin op posed, among other things. . Now President Yusufu Lule has been forced to resign, and pro-Western Godfrey Binaisa has been sworn in as the new President. It will be interesting to see how he makes out, and whether the Indians' return from England will be1 killing two birds relieving over crowding in the British Isles, and pleasing the Indians by permitting them to resume their trade in Uganda! The Jfeek Side of WistagitoGj ' " 'av cucomam Ricrnr ' . ' 1 s ' - .V-.. . j BY SHERMAN BRISCOE NNPA Some African observers here say that England and the Indians' were the hidden propaganda forces behind Amin's overthrow. Big Guns at NNPA Some of the biggest guns in America were on program at the 39th Annual Convention of the National Newspaper Publishers Association in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last week to discuss unemployment amOng blacks and also the energy crunch. NNPA President John H. Sengstacke, of the Chicago Daily Defender and nine other newspapers in his chain, succeeded in obtaining such speakers as Charles L. Brown, chairman of the board of AT&T; both Ben jamin Hooks of the NAACP and Vernon Jordan of the National Urban League; Director of the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Depart ment of Labor Alexis Herman; TRW's Lloyd N. Hand, president of the National Alliance of Businessmen; Am bassador Francis A. Dennis of Liberia; William Pollard, top black in the AFL-CIO; Robert Sellers, chairman of Cities Services. And Jesse L. George, Jr., president of the Williams Exploration Company, part of the organization which laid a large segment of the Alaska pipeline and built the Williams Center and Forum, the beauty spot of Tulsa with shops, theatre, hotel, ice skating rink, and a 38-story office building. Tulsa has come a long Way since 1921 when whites burned down the black section of the city, killing hun dreds of blacks. In turn, blacks killed scores of whites. After that, for nearly fifty years, Tulsa was one of the most racially segregated cities in America. All that seems to have passed as a new generation has grown up in peace and harmony. reducing oil impact will be given careful consideration.' Dr. Brezinski said that Mr. Carter had met the com mitments he made in the two previous summits. The first summit was the trade agreement. At the second summit, Mr. Carter promised inflation reduction and deregulation of crude oil. The President has deregulated oil but he had not reduced inflation. In Korea, the President will visit United States military units. He will also meet with the President of Korea and assure him that the United States is bound by the treaty to maintain the security of Korea. We have ground, air and naval-forces there. Dr. Brezinski stated that the continued presence of United States military in Korea will not be changed. Mr. Carter will also make known to Korean authorities . his continued human rights policy. He hopes to meet with a cross-section of the Korean population, as well as a church group. The summit countries will take up the urgency of the necessity of their citizens, because of the world economic conditions, being compelled to change their lifestyle. The American press people will feel the change on this ' r . f .1 i .r.L. noAi. .1 i - inp. Dtxausc ui inc gruunoing oi inc iaiu s, incy nave to travel coach rather than the usual first class. Dukes Lands Liberia Contract Ofield Dukes, former assistant to Vice President Hubert Humphrey and top public relations counselor in Washington, has landed the coveted PR contract with, the Liberian Government. He flew to Monrovia to con fer with President William Tolbert and give a demonstration of the ways by which Liberia can im prove its image. Are You "Other-Directed"? Thirty years ago, David Riesman of Harvard pro jected a theory in his "The Lonely Crowd" that there are three kinds of people in the world. These are:-"tradition-directedt" "inner-directed," and "other-directed," To over-simplify, Dr. Riesman said that some people are guided by tradition, others, by some inner force, and the rest, by the influence of others, by ever-changing styles, etc. Well, here's how you can tell if you are OTHER DIRECTED. Do you wear VESTED suits in the summer? Or do you wear wrap-around skirts, slit up to the waist,, and then go around coyly holding the slit closed? If so, the answer is YES, but there's nothing wrong with it. CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS REPORTS IS i ByRep. John Conyers " disbursed several billion Since 1968 the major-, dollars to State and local rederal . anti-crime pre . governments. These funds ram the ; Law Enforce-; have bought wasteful unt Assistance Ad 1 hardware for police, yet linistration (LEAA), -has ' have brought little peace to the neighborhoods where crime occurs; they have supported research on whether malnutrition causes crime, yet have fail ed to support- studies of their impact of unemploy ment on crime. As has happened with some other Federal pro gramsji JLEAA's original purpose to reform the DUSliSS It! THE BLACK !lEOL!tltje REINSTATED By CHARLES E. BELLE " Continuing higHlnterest 'ates and housing cost has riced low income people ut of the housing market , vfany states however ought to do. something to ririg house purchasing vithin the reaches of the niddle ; and low-income amilies. They found one vay to do this to was to ssue, Single-Family Mort gage Revenue Bonds. These tax-exempt bonds aised money for mor gage at, a less than going . narket rate. In California oday home mortages ' ates are running over 1, A bonds sale in the tate would ' save home myers about three percen-;; age points. Not only vould it help to reduce the . monthry"playmehts and ' down payment but fewer points are charged, On top of this it prevents redlin ing for Black Americans. ' President James Earl Carter has decided to sup port legislation that would . prevent states and cities from issuing these tax exempt bonds . to raise money for mortgages on single-family homes. He is afraid it will hurt his so called anti-inflation pro gram and be a drain on the I U.S. Treasury revenue. 1 . Carter's lone Black American cabinet officer,' Patricia Harris' Depart ment Of Housing and Ur ban Development (HUD) however has adamantly, supporte'd this kind of - financing.State and local officials and civil rights groups have actively been lobbying the administra-. tion to no avail. When these bonds are brought to market, money is produced for . home buyers to borrow funds to buy a house at a less than , going market interest rate. Restrictions apply to both .the banks as well as the , borrower. : Basically the bank must , loan the money if any in dividualputs t down the minimum .down payment required and the property is within the .designated area. Black Americans not only could borrow aand thus buy anywhere in town, but could also bor-' row needed funds for renovation of their older properties in the inner cities. . Unfortunately, while last year $4 billion of these tax-exempt revenue bonds for. single-family housing were issued up from $36 billion in 1971, few funds have been channelled in this sophisicated manner into the black com munities in this country. . This open door pro gram could deal a death blow to redlining. However, with James Earl Carter's help it will be redlining as usual unless Congress ignores him and curtails the current legisla tion, v criminal justice system and find lasting solutions to crime got confused with, and subordinated to, the special interests f the bureaucrats who' run the program and of their clients,, who have benefited from its income, contracts, and other giveaways. Theyanti-crime agency J; has functibnd by and large sto shore up a criminal justice system that bears little or no relation to the problems of crime and its real causes as they 'are experienced on a daily basis by citizens in the communities where they live and work. After extensive hearings early this year, a thorough-going overhaul and reform of the agency was approved by the . House Subcommittee on Crime. The new legisla tion would have required States and local govern ments to spend most of their anti-crime money in four priority areas community anti-crime . programs? youth crime and juvenile justice; white collar and corporate crime (which, incidentally, in volves billions of dollars . , and serious damage to ' citizens and society, that the Justice Department appears so reluctant to prosecute); and innovative programs to furnish alter natives to prosecution and incarceration. On May I6tn the House Judiciary Committee, un fortunately, overturned the major reforms propos ed and opted instead for a continuation of the basic directions of LEAA as they now exist. The major exception was approval of increased funding for community-anti-crime programs. The House and Senate now have to decide what to do with the anti crime agency, I cannot support it in its present form because it fails to come to terms with the real sources of most crime the economic policies that perpetuate poverty, and the inequali ty and injustice in America and that bars millions of individuals from gainful employment, decent income, and the opportunity to perform productive roles in socie ty. .v The reality of the econ mic roots of crime in America is obvious as it affects young people especially Wack youth, who arethe mos$Hctjmiz- ed by joblessness and discrimination. The Na tional Urban League estimates that at any given time last year, three-fifths of all black teenagers (57V0) were out of jobs, and that figure is even higher in inner city areas like the South Bronx. It is no accident that the vast majority of police ar rests involve young people under the age of 25, the same group that suffers most from unemployment and who have the least reason to have hope for improvement in the future. Living the wealthiest and most ad vanced society in history, yet condemned to lives without opportunity or purpose, may realize their immediate challenge is to escape degradation. When survival is at stake, criminal activity often is viewed by the of fender as an opportunity rather than a danger, a potentially profitable enterprise that is superior to an indecent existence, or of "giving in" or "giving up." LEAA and the criminal justice system are part of the problem of crime,' rather than its solution. The only real solution is to build a full employment economy and implement real income redistribution.. so that all citizens who want to work are able to find jobs -and everyone, regardless of the ability to work, has the resources to live decently. Otherwise, LEAA will continue to throw money away without reaching the roots ' of crime or of changing the existing system, in which crime is the inevitable by-product of inequality and in justice. . Penicillin was discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming by accident in 1928 when some fungus fall Into a preparation of bacteria Fleming was about to throw way. He noticed no bacteria grew there.
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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June 30, 1979, edition 1
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