Physicians think differently about coronary artery disease (CAD) than we patients do. We’re mostly thinking in terms of our own actual risk or risk factors.
Evidently, the best physicians need to think in terms of what’s best for all their patients. I realized recently that it might be useful to try to understand CAD management issues from the point of view of the physician.
Dr. William Blanchet recently made an informative post at the WebMD forum along these lines and I’ve excerpted his entire post there below. I think his post speaks for itself and makes it clear that there are some incredibly good doctors out there. There are a couple of points and a question that I wanted to put on the table first, however. I missed his point entirely for a good while and it’s an important point so please indulge me for a moment.
- A hole in the boat is not someone like me who already clearly has CAD. I am part of the population that has already burst a hole in the boat and is now floating around in it.
- Be clear that YOU are potentially one of the holes in the boat if you currently have no symptoms of CAD.
- Notice that Dr. Blanchet is an ardent believer in Coronary Artery Calcium Score imaging to discover holes in the boat.
- When it comes to CAD, are YOUR doctors “bailers” or “caulkers”?
I’m going to get out the yellow pages and try to find a caulker close to where I live. Let’s see, that’s spelled C–a–u–l…
Without further introduction, I give you Billy “TheCaulker” Blanchet.
(images courtesy of auxodept.org and Boulder Community Hospital)
