Monday PSA: Doctors for the Young

August 18th, 2008

Filed under: Comics, Medicine

Doctors for the Young! Click for the full page.

Here’s a nicely dated educational page from 1963 (more specifically, it is from the inside back cover of Dr. Kildare #4).

Click on the image to the right for the full ad.

Things I learned from this PSA:

  • Apparently, an obstetrician’s main job is to tell a woman that she’s pregnant. Caring for her during pregnancy and delivering the baby are only secondary.
  • Obstetricians are required to have chemistry sets in their office.
  • Pediatricians are so good that they can diagnose a diaper rash without even removing the diaper and looking. OK, that may not be all that hard with a good history, but at least look at the area in question to see what type of diaper rash it is.
  • I’m pretty sure most pediatricians I know would point out that they treat more than just “babies and small children.”
  • Today, we stress prevention as much as treatment in primary care, which includes pediatrics. The wording of the second panel hearkens back to the day when the doctor was there to treat sick patients, nothing else. At least the third panel suggests preventative care — though seems to ignore the concept of patient confidentiality.
  • It’s nice to see a comic book doctor actually using a head mirror correctly.
  • Finally, as a Family Physician, I’d like to point out that we are trained for all three panels here — it doesn’t take an obstetrician or pediatrician. (Admittedly, this was published six years before Family Medicine became a recognized specialty.)

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8 Responses to “ Monday PSA: Doctors for the Young ”

  1. arkonbey
    August 19th, 2008 at 7:13 am

    Patient Confidentiality? If they’re still using head mirrors, it’s most certainly pre-HIPAA.

  2. Keith
    August 19th, 2008 at 10:04 am

    Suppose the ‘Wonderful news’ had been that her husband’s herpes was not currently contagious?

  3. Matt
    August 19th, 2008 at 4:17 pm

    “I’m pretty sure most pediatricians I know would point out that they treat more than just ‘babies and small children.’”

    Hell, I’m nineteen and I still see a pediatrician.

  4. Frank
    August 20th, 2008 at 1:31 pm

    Cool post. Glad to see the couple in the first panel was married. What’s the head-mirror for anyway?

  5. Sean Duggan
    August 20th, 2008 at 2:06 pm

    @Frank – As I understand it, it’s a concave mirror used with a specific kind of lamp so as to put out parallel beams of light. There is a hole in the center to look through with one eye and you look around the edge with the other. Thereby, you maintain stereo vision with a bright source of light that follows your line of sight and there’s no head shadow. More generally, it’s that shiny disc on the doctor’s forehead that people look at and think, “Hey, that’s a doctor!” ^_^ Of course, you can find some references in the link he provided too…

    Personally, I think it’s a shame that an important (and well-recognized when seen) device like this doesn’t seem to have its own WIkipedia article.

  6. Scott
    August 20th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
    Official Comment

    Good explanation, Sean. I’ll be putting up a post on that very topic (head mirrors, especially their use in comics) later today.

  7. Frank
    August 21st, 2008 at 1:47 am

    Yay.

  8. GW Crawford
    August 25th, 2008 at 10:01 am

    To be fair, the middle panel may be just after the exam and he is just handing junior there back to mom

    The first panel look like her hubby and doctor are ganging up on her (you better be happy…or else!)

    Re: an obstetrician’s main job is to tell a woman that she’s pregnant.

    Wow… years of specialized school so you can legally be allowed to say “yep, ya knocked her up”

    Wow. The wonders of modern science

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