November 2, 2025 • 27 mins
What really happens after your doctor closes the exam room door? How do physicians feel when they can't give you the time you deserve? The healthcare system has trained us to focus on symptoms, tests, and diagnoses, but we rarely discuss the human experiences on both sides of medicine.
Drawing from nearly two decades in healthcare, I'm pulling back the curtain to reveal what doctors wish every patient understood about their reality. The truth might surprise you: physicians carry your stories home, cry over difficult cases, and often work while sicker than the patients they're treating. Behind the professional demeanor lies deep caring that extends far beyond the brief medical encounter.
The modern healthcare system places impossible demands on both doctors and patients. With specialists facing hundreds of new consultation requests monthly while already working at capacity, the math simply doesn't add up. Most physicians work 50-60 hour weeks with months-long waitlists, yet still face criticism for seeming rushed during appointments. This episode explains why canceling a clinic creates cascading problems that follow a doctor for months, and why your physician might choose to work through illness rather than reschedule patients who've waited months for care.
Beyond time constraints, we explore the power of lifestyle medicine, the uncertainty inherent in medical practice, and the need for collaborative healthcare models. I've witnessed patients reverse chronic conditions through consistent lifestyle changes, but guiding these transformations requires time that our current system rarely allows. The future likely involves integrated teams of specialists working together to support patients holistically.
Whether you're frustrated with your healthcare experience or simply curious about what happens behind the scenes, this episode offers perspective that could transform your next medical visit. Want to help create a better system? Start by understanding the realities your healthcare providers face every day.
Go check out my website for tons of free resources on how to transition towards a healthier diet and lifestyle.
You can download my free plant-based recipes eBook and a ton of other free resources by visiting the Digital Downloads tab of my website at https://www.plantbaseddrjules.com/shop
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You can also watch my educational videos on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMpkQRXb7G-StAotV0dmahQ
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Thanks so much!
Peace, love, plants!
Dr. Jules
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Hey everyone, welcome to Season 2 of the Dr Jules
Plant-Based Podcast, where wediscuss everything from
plant-based nutrition to themain pillars of lifestyle
medicine.
Hello everyone, and welcomeback to another episode of my
podcast.
Today we're going to be doingsomething a little different.
(00:31):
Instead of talking aboutlifestyle medicine or diving
into the science of nutrition, Iwanted to talk about the top
things that I wish that everypatient knew about their own
doctor.
Now, after almost 20 years inmedicine, one thing has become
very clear to me, and that's thefact that we talk a lot about
(00:51):
symptoms, we talk a lot aboutlab tests and prescriptions and
about patients and diseases anddiagnoses, but we do not talk
about the human experience ofbeing a patient, and even less
about the human experience ofbeing a patient, and even less
about the human experience ofbeing a doctor.
So today I wanted to lift thecurtain and share a few things
(01:12):
that I truly wish that everypatient would understand about
their doctor, and consider thisan homage to my colleagues, to
my friends, to my mentors, myteachers, and also to my
students and to my patients.
Now, the first thing that Iwant my patients to know, or
(01:33):
that I want all of the generalpublic to know is that doctors
care deeply.
I once had a patient withadvanced cancer who made the
brave decision to stop theirtreatments, and I did support
and respect their choice.
But I still went home thatnight with a heavy heart and I
(01:53):
kept thinking about his children, the courage he showed and the
silence that then filled theroom when we said goodbye.
I knew that he was going hometo have palliative care and I
assumed that the next time Iwould hear from him was from one
of his family members tellingme that they've passed.
(02:17):
Now, doctors see you at yourmost vulnerable and even when
we're quiet or distracted or weseem to rush, we often still
carry your stories with us athome.
And, yes, we do cry too.
Over the last 20 years I'vebroken down maybe a handful of
(02:38):
times in the room with mypatients.
Typically it happens whenchildren are involved or when
someone's story just strikes achord and reminds me of the
upbringing that I've had.
Now, with time and with bad newsevery single day, doctors do
(02:59):
tend to be desensitized to badnews.
To be desensitized to bad newsmeaning that when you work day
in, day out inside of negativeenergy and suffering and pain
sometimes someone's pain,although the center of their own
lives is just one of the 30patients we're going to be
(03:27):
seeing that day and we arelikely going to see someone
who's in worse shape than youand although discomfort and
suffering is relative someone's10 out of 10 discomfort may be
someone else's 6 out of 10 painright Now.
The other thing that isimportant to recognize is that
(03:47):
doctors don't have all theanswers.
We have guidelines that arebased in great data and
systematic reviews andmeta-analyses and randomized
controlled trials, but thesestudies often give us answers
about populations or aboutaverages, but you're not an
(04:08):
average.
You are you and your experienceis determined by your genetics
and your background and yourlife experience and your desires
and how it impacts your life ona daily basis and regardless if
you have children or not orwork or not.
All of these things come play arole in how we manage your
(04:33):
symptom right.
Medicine isn't always astraight path and there are
times when we're basically doingour best to navigate
uncertainty.
We use the best availableevidence and then we combine
that with our years ofexperience to try to guide us,
because most people do not fitinside of our guidelines, and
(04:54):
that's the art of medicine it'sknowing what the patient wants,
knowing what the guidelines say,seeing the impact in your life
and obviously, the personalexperience and professional
experience of that doctor you'reseeing during that day will
absolutely help determine whatthe treatment will be.
(05:19):
Now I remember a young woman whocame in.
She had persistent fatigue butall of her tests were normal.
We did blood work, we didx-rays, we did sleep apnea
testing, we did cognitivetesting.
We made sure that she wasn'thaving a bout of depression or
anxiety or ADHD.
After months of investigation,she asked me Do you believe me?
(05:46):
Do you think I'm lying?
And I told her yeah, I dobelieve you, but because, even
if the answer is not obviousright now, her story matters.
We're always trying, we'retrying to listen, trying to
learn and trying to never giveup on you.
And I always tell my studentswe're not detectives, we're not
(06:09):
the police.
We believe what patients tellus to be their experience and we
try to see maybe they'remisinterpreting their symptoms
or maybe they're biased in theirown research that they've done.
But that's why they come to seeus To have someone neutral and
unbiased give an expert opinionbased on thousands of hours of
(06:35):
clinical training and years ofclinical experience.
Now, the other thing that Iwould want my patients to know
is that doctors wish that we hadmore time with you.
Now we've had 10-minuteappointments where I've had to
explain a new diagnosis, discussmedication and treatment,
(06:57):
counsel on lifestyle habits andthen answer a grocery list of
questions, all of this knowingthat there are a dozen more
patients waiting in the waitingroom to be seen.
Now.
Do we want to feel rushed or torush you?
No, never.
We became doctors to connectand to guide and to help and to
(07:19):
educate, but the reality is weoften leave our clinics feeling
like we've let someone down, notbecause we didn't care, but
because we simply do not haveenough time to show that we do.
We have a caseload that issometimes backed for months, and
the more time we spend with you, the more time others wait for
(07:41):
their appointments.
Others wait for theirappointments.
Now.
When I was hired as a doctor, Iwas told that I was going to be
offering not only service to apatient, but service to a
community of patients, and whatthat means is that if I have a
thousand patients and athree-month wait and my
(08:03):
appointments are booked every 15to 20 minutes, and I, tomorrow,
decide that I want to spendhalf an hour with everyone.
I want to help patients stopsmoking and exercise more and
sleep better, and I want toadvocate for lifestyle medicine,
and so I'm going to extend myappointments to 30 minutes
instead of 15 to 20,.
Well, that means I'll be seeingabout 30 to 40% less patients
(08:28):
Instead of seeing 20 patients ina day.
That might go down to 12.
And if that happens, well,that's six to eight more
patients that do not get seen ona daily basis, more patients
that do not get seen on a dailybasis, and the implications for
our healthcare system would bedramatic.
(08:49):
I mean, my waitlist wouldprobably balloon to five, six
months.
Doctors would start acceptingless patients in their clientele
and exponentially more peoplewould be without doctors or
would be waiting months toaccess one.
Now, tomorrow, if you call myclinic and you ask to have
(09:11):
specifically an appointment withme in person, you're waiting
months for that appointment.
Now, could I work at the officeevery single day, 8 to 6 pm?
I could, but I'd be veryunhappy doing that, because the
reason I like my job is thatmedicine can be practiced in
(09:33):
many different ways.
I'm teaching on Monday morningsand then seeing patients in the
afternoon Tuesday, I'm teachingagain and then doing skin
surgery.
On the afternoons of Tuesday,wednesday, thursday, friday
mornings I do surgery again.
I teach at a university, I givecourses at my clinic, I
(09:54):
advocate for lifestyle medicine.
I do a whole bunch of differentthings.
I have my colleagues doing thediabetes clinics and others that
are on committees.
One of my colleagues is thecurrent president of the New
Brunswick Medical Association.
Some deliver babies, some do ERshifts.
The reality is is that doctorsare not always sitting at the
(10:17):
office seeing patients likeyou're at the drive-thru right
Now.
There are simply not enoughdoctors for the amount of people
who need to see one, and that'swhy we need to collaborate with
other disciplines and otherhealthcare professionals like
physiotherapists, dieticians andpsychologists, in order to
offer the best care possible.
(10:38):
But I understand that, after 20years of building a
relationship with the patientand their family and knowing the
name of their pets and whatthey do for a living and where
they vacationed over the lastyear, I understand that some of
my patients would rather gettheir nutrition counseling from
(10:59):
me than from having to see a newdietitian, for example.
From having to see a newdietitian, for example, because
my recommendations will not onlybe evidence-based, but they'll
be adapted to the patient'sneeds, because we've built that
relationship over years andyears and we've built that trust
and confidence.
(11:19):
Now there are simply too manypatients, not enough doctors and
not enough time in a day.
I probably work 50 to 60 hourson average per week and still
have many months of wait timebefore having an available
appointment.
Now one specialist recentlytold me that he had over 500 new
(11:41):
consultation requests per month.
He already works inhumane hoursat full speed trying to see
maybe 50 to 60% of thesepatients waiting on his wait
list.
Then one of the patients thathe saw one of my patients said
yeah, I didn't like him.
He seemed very rushed.
(12:03):
Now this story happened a fewdays after that colleague of
mine admitted to how guilty healready felt having to work so
fast and not spending more timefor preventative counseling.
That's probably why a lot ofspecialists come to Moncton or
come to New Brunswick and end upleaving again simply because
(12:26):
the workload is too much.
Now I can imagine some patientssaying well, doctors, you kind
of know what you were gettingyourself into when you decided
to go into medicine.
Most of us go into medicineknowing we're going to be
studying for over a decade andwe're going to have thousands of
(12:46):
hours of training and a very,very hard work.
We know that our profession isnot easy and practicing medicine
will come with the long hoursand working on holidays and
having minimal vacation.
We know that, working onholidays and having minimal
(13:07):
vacation, we know that.
But what we kind of didn'trecognize is and I can just
speak for myself is howfrustrating it can feel to go
home knowing and wanting to havedone better.
Now I remember seeing 30patients in an afternoon at the
walk-in clinics and I recallfeeling like there there's so
(13:31):
much more that could have beendone, not only to treat and
diagnose, but more to preventright things that I could do so
that you do not need to come tothe clinic next time.
Information that I can counselyou on why you could have waited
(13:51):
another 24 to 48 hours beforeconsulting with your child,
because there's a 95% chancethat the ailment they have would
have disappeared within thattime frame.
This investment on the front endwill help on the back end by
decluttering clinics and havingpeople maybe be a little bit
more patient, a little lessworried and maybe not even
(14:14):
needing that that appointment inthe first place.
Now, when someone is, that'snot the best time to scream
swimming instructions.
You simply want to throw them alifeline.
And when the house is on fire,it's very hard to find time to
figure out how to keep the firefrom starting in the first place
(14:37):
.
And this concept appliesperfectly to medicine.
We are so busy putting outfires that we simply have no
time trying to prevent them.
Now, the fourth thing that Iwant all of my patients to know
is that lifestyle change ispowerful, not optional, and it
(14:59):
can be very frustrating waitingmonths to see your doctor just
to have them talk about yourdiet and sleep and movement,
when you just wanted a quick fix.
But I always bring these thingsup because I've seen them
change lives.
Plague.
(15:19):
Our schedules would respond tosome type of lifestyle
intervention that acts on yournutrition, your exercise, your
movement, your sleep, yoursocial connections, your stress
management strategies.
Now I've seen patients reversetheir type 2 diabetes by
changing what they eat, and I'veseen depression go away through
(15:41):
consistent movement and bettersleep, and I've watched people
remove their blood pressuremedication simply because
they've changed their lifestyle.
Now lifestyle medicine isn'tjust something we mention at the
end of the visit.
It should be the starting point.
It's powerful, it's personal,but it takes time, and it takes
(16:04):
time that we often don't haveinside of a medical visit.
Now, the other thing that I'dlike my patients to know about
doctors in general is that we'rehuman too.
We make mistakes, we get tired,we carry stress, guilt and
(16:25):
grief, just like you Now.
One morning, I was about 10minutes late to clinic after
being up most of the night witha fever.
I'm pretty sure that I hadstrep throat, so I made sure to
wash my hands and wear a mask.
Now the best thing I could havedone is simply stay home.
Right, but staying home meantthat I needed to cancel my
(16:47):
clinic, and canceling 30patients that have been waiting
months for an appointment meansthat I need to figure out where
to reschedule them Now.
Unless you want to come see meSaturday night at 10 pm, there's
no space in my schedule for 30patients, so these patients
(17:09):
would need to simply be eitherput at the back of my list or be
seen early in the morning, lateat night or during my lunch
hours.
(17:36):
Now that's why a lot of doctorsrather not take vacation or not
take a day off and not call insick, because it simply makes
our life more complicated thanworking tired or working while
ill.
That night where I got to worka few minutes late because of a
fever, I tried to push throughthe day but my mind was not even
there and a patient wasfrustrated with the weight and
the fact that I was working slowthat day, and understandably so
.
But in that moment I wish Icould have said please be
(17:59):
patient with me, I'm doing mybest, I'm not feeling well.
It's more complicated for mecanceling your appointment than
simply trying to work while I'mfeeling like crap.
Doctors aren't machines, butwe're people who chose this path
because we wanted to help andbecause we love the science of
(18:21):
medicine.
But sometimes we need a littlegrace too, and I've worked many
days, lots of days, where I wassicker than the patient that I
was seeing and I was sicker thanthe patient who was asking me
for a medical note to have sometime off work for a scratchy
throat while I was swallowingrazor blades.
(18:43):
Now I never like to rant or tovent without offering possible
solutions, and the main problemis that there are simply not
enough doctors for the amount ofpatients that need to be seen.
Our population is aging.
The rates of chronic diseasesthat are directly or indirectly
(19:05):
linked to the lifestyle we liveand the choices we make is
growing exponentially.
Science has evolved.
Pharmacology and medicines areevolving.
Imaging technologies areexponentially getting more
advanced than when I startedworking, and now artificial
(19:26):
intelligence will enter thepicture.
So obviously the landscape ofpracticing medicine has evolved
dramatically over the last 20years, but medical training
hasn't right.
Doctors absolutely need to getmore training in the things that
(19:50):
are coming up, including usinglifestyle medicine interventions
to help people get their lifeback.
Doctors are not justprescribers, they're now coaches
.
Prescribers, they're nowcoaches and they need to learn
how to intervene in the four orfive minute window that they
(20:11):
have with their patients todiscuss lifestyle medicine.
They also need to accept thatit's okay to collaborate, and
patients need to understand thistoo.
Working with dieticians andworking with physiotherapists
and working with massagetherapists and other holistic
practitioners that practiceevidence-based medicine is
(20:33):
absolutely important andincredibly, incredibly useful.
I mean having a team of peoplethat work around you and that
all see your problem from adifferent angle will obviously
provide the best outcomes.
But the thing is is that withthe insurance companies and the
(20:55):
way things are organized, justphysically, it's inconvenient
for patients to drive down oneside of town for their physio
and then the other side of townfor their dietician and the
other side of town for theirdoctor.
Imagine everything beingin-house.
Imagine a clinic where youcould see the nurse, the doctor
(21:17):
and the dietician back-to-back,and imagine that then you would
have a cheerleader in yourcorner, a coach or a coordinator
, a care coordinator that'scalling you and texting you and
making sure everything is okayand that you're getting your
steps in and you're drinkingyour water.
(21:38):
Now I think this is the futureof healthcare and I don't think
doctors need to be involved inevery single facet of
preventative practice andpreventative medicine.
I really honestly think that ifa patient is surrounded by a
team of people, that will lessenthe burden on doctors.
(22:02):
Practice in medicine isdifficult.
I mean, I love my job but Ifind is difficult.
I mean, I love my job but Ifind it difficult, and I have
difficult days where I feel thatI'm not doing enough and I'm
working against the systemthat's working against me.
It's such a weird concept.
Now, if you felt thisfrustration as a patient, I
(22:27):
don't blame you.
And if you felt like modernhealthcare wasn't providing you
the answers that you needed andyou needed to seek answers
elsewhere, in either alternativemedicine or alternative
practitioners.
I understand, and that's why mygoal has always been to try to
(22:48):
marry these two things togetherEvidence-based, holistic
alternative medicines.
There has to be a way of havingthem integrated into the modern
medical system.
It doesn't need to be one orthe other, it can absolutely be
both, just as long as thesealternative treatments are based
(23:13):
in good quality evidence.
Now I understand thatsupplements or cupping or
acupuncture will likely never bestudied with a billion dollar
budget in huge randomizedplacebo-controlled trials where
the study lasts for a year andinvolves thousands of patients.
(23:35):
I mean, these companies simplydon't have the budget that big
pharma has to produce thesehigh-level, high-quality studies
.
But we can absolutely stilllook through the BS and find
good quality science to supportsome of these alternative
measures that could helppatients get healthier right Now
(24:00):
.
One of my colleagues once toldme when I was a student no one
gets put on a timer when theycome see their doctor.
Some patients will require fiveminutes and you give them five
minutes, and some people willrequire 25 minutes, and these
patients, you give them 25minutes.
You try to thank the nextpatient that was waiting.
(24:23):
You thank them for theircourage and patience and explain
to them that some people simplymay need more time right, but
if you're one of these patientsthat are listening to this
podcast right now, you're likelysomeone who already understands
that lifestyle interventionsare the key that will likely
(24:46):
save our whole healthcare system.
So to you, who alreadypractices lifestyle medicine in
your daily life, who moves, whoeats well, who manages stress,
who connects with people theylove, who lives with purpose and
passion, to you, thank you.
Purpose and passion To you,thank you.
(25:10):
You're one of the main reasonsthat our healthcare system
hasn't completely beenoverwhelmed, and you're the
reason that I love my job.
Going through success withpatients is infinitely more
validating than the weight thatwe carry through bad news.
(25:32):
Having patients that stopsmoking or reverse their
diabetes or reduce their bloodpressure pills that's extremely
reinforcing for me and it makesme want to coach and help a
million other people do the same.
Now I've seen it happen so manytimes that people turn their
(25:56):
lives around and get their livesback that I want everyone to
feel the power that that canhave.
I felt it for myself when Ireversed my chronic diseases,
and I hope everyone has a chanceto do it too, right on Cool.
(26:18):
Thanks so much for being here.
Thanks so much for listening tothis episode.
Let me know what you think.
Do you feel heard?
Do you often feel misunderstoodby the modern healthcare system
?
I can almost guarantee you thatthe problem isn't your doctor.
It's the system that we work inand we're forced to adapt to.
(26:40):
But we're trying to change that.
We're going to start with oneclinic at a time and one doctor
at a time and hopefully this cantrickle down and be a part of
the culture that we have in NewBrunswick Healthcare.
Right on, you have an amazingday.
We'll see you at the nextepisode.
Peace, hey, everyone.
(27:03):
Go check out my websiteplantbaseddoctorjulescom to find
free downloadable resources andremember that you can find me
on Facebook and Instagram at DrJules Cormier, and on YouTube at
Plant Based Dr Jules.
Hey everyone, welcome to Season 2 of the Dr Jules
Plant-Based Podcast, where wediscuss everything from
plant-based nutrition to themain pillars of lifestyle
medicine.
Hello everyone, and welcomeback to another episode of my
podcast.
Today we're going to be doingsomething a little different.
(00:31):
Instead of talking aboutlifestyle medicine or diving
into the science of nutrition, Iwanted to talk about the top
things that I wish that everypatient knew about their own
doctor.
Now, after almost 20 years inmedicine, one thing has become
very clear to me, and that's thefact that we talk a lot about
(00:51):
symptoms, we talk a lot aboutlab tests and prescriptions and
about patients and diseases anddiagnoses, but we do not talk
about the human experience ofbeing a patient, and even less
about the human experience ofbeing a patient, and even less
about the human experience ofbeing a doctor.
So today I wanted to lift thecurtain and share a few things
(01:12):
that I truly wish that everypatient would understand about
their doctor, and consider thisan homage to my colleagues, to
my friends, to my mentors, myteachers, and also to my
students and to my patients.
Now, the first thing that Iwant my patients to know, or
(01:33):
that I want all of the generalpublic to know is that doctors
care deeply.
I once had a patient withadvanced cancer who made the
brave decision to stop theirtreatments, and I did support
and respect their choice.
But I still went home thatnight with a heavy heart and I
(01:53):
kept thinking about his children, the courage he showed and the
silence that then filled theroom when we said goodbye.
I knew that he was going hometo have palliative care and I
assumed that the next time Iwould hear from him was from one
of his family members tellingme that they've passed.
(02:17):
Now, doctors see you at yourmost vulnerable and even when
we're quiet or distracted or weseem to rush, we often still
carry your stories with us athome.
And, yes, we do cry too.
Over the last 20 years I'vebroken down maybe a handful of
(02:38):
times in the room with mypatients.
Typically it happens whenchildren are involved or when
someone's story just strikes achord and reminds me of the
upbringing that I've had.
Now, with time and with bad newsevery single day, doctors do
(02:59):
tend to be desensitized to badnews.
To be desensitized to bad newsmeaning that when you work day
in, day out inside of negativeenergy and suffering and pain
sometimes someone's pain,although the center of their own
lives is just one of the 30patients we're going to be
(03:27):
seeing that day and we arelikely going to see someone
who's in worse shape than youand although discomfort and
suffering is relative someone's10 out of 10 discomfort may be
someone else's 6 out of 10 painright Now.
The other thing that isimportant to recognize is that
(03:47):
doctors don't have all theanswers.
We have guidelines that arebased in great data and
systematic reviews andmeta-analyses and randomized
controlled trials, but thesestudies often give us answers
about populations or aboutaverages, but you're not an
(04:08):
average.
You are you and your experienceis determined by your genetics
and your background and yourlife experience and your desires
and how it impacts your life ona daily basis and regardless if
you have children or not orwork or not.
All of these things come play arole in how we manage your
(04:33):
symptom right.
Medicine isn't always astraight path and there are
times when we're basically doingour best to navigate
uncertainty.
We use the best availableevidence and then we combine
that with our years ofexperience to try to guide us,
because most people do not fitinside of our guidelines, and
(04:54):
that's the art of medicine it'sknowing what the patient wants,
knowing what the guidelines say,seeing the impact in your life
and obviously, the personalexperience and professional
experience of that doctor you'reseeing during that day will
absolutely help determine whatthe treatment will be.
(05:19):
Now I remember a young woman whocame in.
She had persistent fatigue butall of her tests were normal.
We did blood work, we didx-rays, we did sleep apnea
testing, we did cognitivetesting.
We made sure that she wasn'thaving a bout of depression or
anxiety or ADHD.
After months of investigation,she asked me Do you believe me?
(05:46):
Do you think I'm lying?
And I told her yeah, I dobelieve you, but because, even
if the answer is not obviousright now, her story matters.
We're always trying, we'retrying to listen, trying to
learn and trying to never giveup on you.
And I always tell my studentswe're not detectives, we're not
(06:09):
the police.
We believe what patients tellus to be their experience and we
try to see maybe they'remisinterpreting their symptoms
or maybe they're biased in theirown research that they've done.
But that's why they come to seeus To have someone neutral and
unbiased give an expert opinionbased on thousands of hours of
(06:35):
clinical training and years ofclinical experience.
Now, the other thing that Iwould want my patients to know
is that doctors wish that we hadmore time with you.
Now we've had 10-minuteappointments where I've had to
explain a new diagnosis, discussmedication and treatment,
(06:57):
counsel on lifestyle habits andthen answer a grocery list of
questions, all of this knowingthat there are a dozen more
patients waiting in the waitingroom to be seen.
Now.
Do we want to feel rushed or torush you?
No, never.
We became doctors to connectand to guide and to help and to
(07:19):
educate, but the reality is weoften leave our clinics feeling
like we've let someone down, notbecause we didn't care, but
because we simply do not haveenough time to show that we do.
We have a caseload that issometimes backed for months, and
the more time we spend with you, the more time others wait for
(07:41):
their appointments.
Others wait for theirappointments.
Now.
When I was hired as a doctor, Iwas told that I was going to be
offering not only service to apatient, but service to a
community of patients, and whatthat means is that if I have a
thousand patients and athree-month wait and my
(08:03):
appointments are booked every 15to 20 minutes, and I, tomorrow,
decide that I want to spendhalf an hour with everyone.
I want to help patients stopsmoking and exercise more and
sleep better, and I want toadvocate for lifestyle medicine,
and so I'm going to extend myappointments to 30 minutes
instead of 15 to 20,.
Well, that means I'll be seeingabout 30 to 40% less patients
(08:28):
Instead of seeing 20 patients ina day.
That might go down to 12.
And if that happens, well,that's six to eight more
patients that do not get seen ona daily basis, more patients
that do not get seen on a dailybasis, and the implications for
our healthcare system would bedramatic.
(08:49):
I mean, my waitlist wouldprobably balloon to five, six
months.
Doctors would start acceptingless patients in their clientele
and exponentially more peoplewould be without doctors or
would be waiting months toaccess one.
Now, tomorrow, if you call myclinic and you ask to have
(09:11):
specifically an appointment withme in person, you're waiting
months for that appointment.
Now, could I work at the officeevery single day, 8 to 6 pm?
I could, but I'd be veryunhappy doing that, because the
reason I like my job is thatmedicine can be practiced in
(09:33):
many different ways.
I'm teaching on Monday morningsand then seeing patients in the
afternoon Tuesday, I'm teachingagain and then doing skin
surgery.
On the afternoons of Tuesday,wednesday, thursday, friday
mornings I do surgery again.
I teach at a university, I givecourses at my clinic, I
(09:54):
advocate for lifestyle medicine.
I do a whole bunch of differentthings.
I have my colleagues doing thediabetes clinics and others that
are on committees.
One of my colleagues is thecurrent president of the New
Brunswick Medical Association.
Some deliver babies, some do ERshifts.
The reality is is that doctorsare not always sitting at the
(10:17):
office seeing patients likeyou're at the drive-thru right
Now.
There are simply not enoughdoctors for the amount of people
who need to see one, and that'swhy we need to collaborate with
other disciplines and otherhealthcare professionals like
physiotherapists, dieticians andpsychologists, in order to
offer the best care possible.
(10:38):
But I understand that, after 20years of building a
relationship with the patientand their family and knowing the
name of their pets and whatthey do for a living and where
they vacationed over the lastyear, I understand that some of
my patients would rather gettheir nutrition counseling from
(10:59):
me than from having to see a newdietitian, for example.
From having to see a newdietitian, for example, because
my recommendations will not onlybe evidence-based, but they'll
be adapted to the patient'sneeds, because we've built that
relationship over years andyears and we've built that trust
and confidence.
(11:19):
Now there are simply too manypatients, not enough doctors and
not enough time in a day.
I probably work 50 to 60 hourson average per week and still
have many months of wait timebefore having an available
appointment.
Now one specialist recentlytold me that he had over 500 new
(11:41):
consultation requests per month.
He already works inhumane hoursat full speed trying to see
maybe 50 to 60% of thesepatients waiting on his wait
list.
Then one of the patients thathe saw one of my patients said
yeah, I didn't like him.
He seemed very rushed.
(12:03):
Now this story happened a fewdays after that colleague of
mine admitted to how guilty healready felt having to work so
fast and not spending more timefor preventative counseling.
That's probably why a lot ofspecialists come to Moncton or
come to New Brunswick and end upleaving again simply because
(12:26):
the workload is too much.
Now I can imagine some patientssaying well, doctors, you kind
of know what you were gettingyourself into when you decided
to go into medicine.
Most of us go into medicineknowing we're going to be
studying for over a decade andwe're going to have thousands of
(12:46):
hours of training and a very,very hard work.
We know that our profession isnot easy and practicing medicine
will come with the long hoursand working on holidays and
having minimal vacation.
We know that, working onholidays and having minimal
(13:07):
vacation, we know that.
But what we kind of didn'trecognize is and I can just
speak for myself is howfrustrating it can feel to go
home knowing and wanting to havedone better.
Now I remember seeing 30patients in an afternoon at the
walk-in clinics and I recallfeeling like there there's so
(13:31):
much more that could have beendone, not only to treat and
diagnose, but more to preventright things that I could do so
that you do not need to come tothe clinic next time.
Information that I can counselyou on why you could have waited
(13:51):
another 24 to 48 hours beforeconsulting with your child,
because there's a 95% chancethat the ailment they have would
have disappeared within thattime frame.
This investment on the front endwill help on the back end by
decluttering clinics and havingpeople maybe be a little bit
more patient, a little lessworried and maybe not even
(14:14):
needing that that appointment inthe first place.
Now, when someone is, that'snot the best time to scream
swimming instructions.
You simply want to throw them alifeline.
And when the house is on fire,it's very hard to find time to
figure out how to keep the firefrom starting in the first place
(14:37):
.
And this concept appliesperfectly to medicine.
We are so busy putting outfires that we simply have no
time trying to prevent them.
Now, the fourth thing that Iwant all of my patients to know
is that lifestyle change ispowerful, not optional, and it
(14:59):
can be very frustrating waitingmonths to see your doctor just
to have them talk about yourdiet and sleep and movement,
when you just wanted a quick fix.
But I always bring these thingsup because I've seen them
change lives.
Plague.
(15:19):
Our schedules would respond tosome type of lifestyle
intervention that acts on yournutrition, your exercise, your
movement, your sleep, yoursocial connections, your stress
management strategies.
Now I've seen patients reversetheir type 2 diabetes by
changing what they eat, and I'veseen depression go away through
(15:41):
consistent movement and bettersleep, and I've watched people
remove their blood pressuremedication simply because
they've changed their lifestyle.
Now lifestyle medicine isn'tjust something we mention at the
end of the visit.
It should be the starting point.
It's powerful, it's personal,but it takes time, and it takes
(16:04):
time that we often don't haveinside of a medical visit.
Now, the other thing that I'dlike my patients to know about
doctors in general is that we'rehuman too.
We make mistakes, we get tired,we carry stress, guilt and
(16:25):
grief, just like you Now.
One morning, I was about 10minutes late to clinic after
being up most of the night witha fever.
I'm pretty sure that I hadstrep throat, so I made sure to
wash my hands and wear a mask.
Now the best thing I could havedone is simply stay home.
Right, but staying home meantthat I needed to cancel my
(16:47):
clinic, and canceling 30patients that have been waiting
months for an appointment meansthat I need to figure out where
to reschedule them Now.
Unless you want to come see meSaturday night at 10 pm, there's
no space in my schedule for 30patients, so these patients
(17:09):
would need to simply be eitherput at the back of my list or be
seen early in the morning, lateat night or during my lunch
hours.
(17:36):
Now that's why a lot of doctorsrather not take vacation or not
take a day off and not call insick, because it simply makes
our life more complicated thanworking tired or working while
ill.
That night where I got to worka few minutes late because of a
fever, I tried to push throughthe day but my mind was not even
there and a patient wasfrustrated with the weight and
the fact that I was working slowthat day, and understandably so
.
But in that moment I wish Icould have said please be
(17:59):
patient with me, I'm doing mybest, I'm not feeling well.
It's more complicated for mecanceling your appointment than
simply trying to work while I'mfeeling like crap.
Doctors aren't machines, butwe're people who chose this path
because we wanted to help andbecause we love the science of
(18:21):
medicine.
But sometimes we need a littlegrace too, and I've worked many
days, lots of days, where I wassicker than the patient that I
was seeing and I was sicker thanthe patient who was asking me
for a medical note to have sometime off work for a scratchy
throat while I was swallowingrazor blades.
(18:43):
Now I never like to rant or tovent without offering possible
solutions, and the main problemis that there are simply not
enough doctors for the amount ofpatients that need to be seen.
Our population is aging.
The rates of chronic diseasesthat are directly or indirectly
(19:05):
linked to the lifestyle we liveand the choices we make is
growing exponentially.
Science has evolved.
Pharmacology and medicines areevolving.
Imaging technologies areexponentially getting more
advanced than when I startedworking, and now artificial
(19:26):
intelligence will enter thepicture.
So obviously the landscape ofpracticing medicine has evolved
dramatically over the last 20years, but medical training
hasn't right.
Doctors absolutely need to getmore training in the things that
(19:50):
are coming up, including usinglifestyle medicine interventions
to help people get their lifeback.
Doctors are not justprescribers, they're now coaches
.
Prescribers, they're nowcoaches and they need to learn
how to intervene in the four orfive minute window that they
(20:11):
have with their patients todiscuss lifestyle medicine.
They also need to accept thatit's okay to collaborate, and
patients need to understand thistoo.
Working with dieticians andworking with physiotherapists
and working with massagetherapists and other holistic
practitioners that practiceevidence-based medicine is
(20:33):
absolutely important andincredibly, incredibly useful.
I mean having a team of peoplethat work around you and that
all see your problem from adifferent angle will obviously
provide the best outcomes.
But the thing is is that withthe insurance companies and the
(20:55):
way things are organized, justphysically, it's inconvenient
for patients to drive down oneside of town for their physio
and then the other side of townfor their dietician and the
other side of town for theirdoctor.
Imagine everything beingin-house.
Imagine a clinic where youcould see the nurse, the doctor
(21:17):
and the dietician back-to-back,and imagine that then you would
have a cheerleader in yourcorner, a coach or a coordinator
, a care coordinator that'scalling you and texting you and
making sure everything is okayand that you're getting your
steps in and you're drinkingyour water.
(21:38):
Now I think this is the futureof healthcare and I don't think
doctors need to be involved inevery single facet of
preventative practice andpreventative medicine.
I really honestly think that ifa patient is surrounded by a
team of people, that will lessenthe burden on doctors.
(22:02):
Practice in medicine isdifficult.
I mean, I love my job but Ifind is difficult.
I mean, I love my job but Ifind it difficult, and I have
difficult days where I feel thatI'm not doing enough and I'm
working against the systemthat's working against me.
It's such a weird concept.
Now, if you felt thisfrustration as a patient, I
(22:27):
don't blame you.
And if you felt like modernhealthcare wasn't providing you
the answers that you needed andyou needed to seek answers
elsewhere, in either alternativemedicine or alternative
practitioners.
I understand, and that's why mygoal has always been to try to
(22:48):
marry these two things togetherEvidence-based, holistic
alternative medicines.
There has to be a way of havingthem integrated into the modern
medical system.
It doesn't need to be one orthe other, it can absolutely be
both, just as long as thesealternative treatments are based
(23:13):
in good quality evidence.
Now I understand thatsupplements or cupping or
acupuncture will likely never bestudied with a billion dollar
budget in huge randomizedplacebo-controlled trials where
the study lasts for a year andinvolves thousands of patients.
(23:35):
I mean, these companies simplydon't have the budget that big
pharma has to produce thesehigh-level, high-quality studies
.
But we can absolutely stilllook through the BS and find
good quality science to supportsome of these alternative
measures that could helppatients get healthier right Now
(24:00):
.
One of my colleagues once toldme when I was a student no one
gets put on a timer when theycome see their doctor.
Some patients will require fiveminutes and you give them five
minutes, and some people willrequire 25 minutes, and these
patients, you give them 25minutes.
You try to thank the nextpatient that was waiting.
(24:23):
You thank them for theircourage and patience and explain
to them that some people simplymay need more time right, but
if you're one of these patientsthat are listening to this
podcast right now, you're likelysomeone who already understands
that lifestyle interventionsare the key that will likely
(24:46):
save our whole healthcare system.
So to you, who alreadypractices lifestyle medicine in
your daily life, who moves, whoeats well, who manages stress,
who connects with people theylove, who lives with purpose and
passion, to you, thank you.
Purpose and passion To you,thank you.
(25:10):
You're one of the main reasonsthat our healthcare system
hasn't completely beenoverwhelmed, and you're the
reason that I love my job.
Going through success withpatients is infinitely more
validating than the weight thatwe carry through bad news.
(25:32):
Having patients that stopsmoking or reverse their
diabetes or reduce their bloodpressure pills that's extremely
reinforcing for me and it makesme want to coach and help a
million other people do the same.
Now I've seen it happen so manytimes that people turn their
(25:56):
lives around and get their livesback that I want everyone to
feel the power that that canhave.
I felt it for myself when Ireversed my chronic diseases,
and I hope everyone has a chanceto do it too, right on Cool.
(26:18):
Thanks so much for being here.
Thanks so much for listening tothis episode.
Let me know what you think.
Do you feel heard?
Do you often feel misunderstoodby the modern healthcare system
?
I can almost guarantee you thatthe problem isn't your doctor.
It's the system that we work inand we're forced to adapt to.
(26:40):
But we're trying to change that.
We're going to start with oneclinic at a time and one doctor
at a time and hopefully this cantrickle down and be a part of
the culture that we have in NewBrunswick Healthcare.
Right on, you have an amazingday.
We'll see you at the nextepisode.
Peace, hey, everyone.
(27:03):
Go check out my websiteplantbaseddoctorjulescom to find
free downloadable resources andremember that you can find me
on Facebook and Instagram at DrJules Cormier, and on YouTube at
Plant Based Dr Jules.
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