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OPINION 17
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OPINION 17
Insight
Why I loathe ‘ GPs should ...’
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Dr Ashlea Broomfield GP with a special interest in psychological medicine , Woolgoolga , NSW .
The phrase falls from ivory towers , and we need to stop using it .
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suggests you do something without consultation , without seeking to understand .
I ’ m pretty sure that editors and writers have caught on because I see far fewer “ GPs should ”. That ’ s great .
However , I ’ m now seeing a lot of “ GPs are well placed for ” and “ GPs are best placed to ”.
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And I ’ m getting an icky feeling . It feels like the new ‘ should ’.
But it ’ s a step in the right direction .
The pressures on GPs to maintain such a broad scope of practice and meet the entirety of expectations of our non-GP specialist colleagues are immense — lest we are shamed for ‘ less than ’ medicine .
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It ’ s something that needs to be rewritten or perhaps , more clearly , rediscovered . Not just reworded but explored with openness and curiosity .
We are starting to see more GP-based research , more investment and more political interest in primary care .
Let ’ s reduce assumptions and
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statements about what it is that GPs ‘ should ’ or are ‘ best placed to ’ do .
Let ’ s start asking : what is most important to GPs ? How do GPs want the situation to be ? How could GPs envision this differently ? How does this work for GPs ?
Who knows ? My suspicion is we might have some incredible insights .
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‘
SHOULD
’ is one of the words I ’ d like to delete from the English language .
‘ Should ’ is a verb , the definition of which is “ used to indicate obligation , duty or correctness — typically , when criticising someone ’ s actions ”.
When I hear one of my patients say “ I should ” or “ they should ” or that someone has told them “ you should ”, my ears prick up . Then I orient myself to this odd social pressure .
‘ Should ’ usually means that someone wants to do something but there is a barrier . Or it can mean that the person doesn ’ t want to and it ’ s someone else ’ s idea of what ’ s required to happen and they haven ’ t yet come to their own determination regarding the situation .
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My blood used to boil when I saw articles saying ‘ GPs should ’.
“ I want to , but [ insert reason or barrier here ].”
“ I don ’ t want to , but [ insert someone else ’ s ideas here ].”
In medicine , we often use “ you should ” — well , at least I know I ’ ve caught myself using it !
Now , as I think it , I try to track the thought before it becomes a verb that exits my mouth .
Instead , I try to seek what the person in front of me wants to do . Then we work to figure it out . What is most important to them ? How do they want the situation to be ? How could this be different ? How does this work for them ?
It goes from “ someone told me ” ( that is , outsourcing power or opinion ) to “ I have my own agency ”, “ I get to decide what happens for me ”.
It allows agency in relationship dynamics as well : “ I get to decide how I act , and I take ownership for how my actions affect others .”
So , yes , I don ’ t like the word ‘ should ’.
My blood used to boil when I saw articles saying “ GPs should ”.
It was often an ideal from an oppressive ivory tower , where someone who doesn ’ t work in the same context as you
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