Ask HN: Are there medical practitioners who understand founders and engineers? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Are there medical practitioners who understand founders and engineers?

3 pointshagmonk1 comment

I've seen a lot of threads on HN recently where health issues have come up. Quite often the comments are filled with anecdotes that lead me to believe engineers and startup founders have unique health concerns.

Our work leaves little time in the day for many regular administrative tasks, much less more spaced out tasks like health checkups. In males the deferral of health checkups is already a problem, but for founders and engineers who are male I believe it is exacerbated.

We work long hours in tense environments, but with little cardiovascular activity. If we do perform regular exercise, many of us gravitate towards very goal oriented intense workouts like spin classes, crossfit, marathons, century bike rides, etc. With such limited time and a drive to "succeed" at anything we do, there are no half measures.

I recently skipped on a doctor's visit, despite my company having access to on-site physicians. The problem was a "typical male" problem, but a few hours of research led me to believe I understood the symptoms and the physiology enough to spend the time on some critical stuff that needed to be done. My head was also filled with the drama of the U.S. medical system, where tests would be ordered that left me with a feeling of dread and uncertainty for weeks despite the statistics indicating a serious condition was extremely unlikely.

So what to do ... can we use our healthy remuneration packages to visit doctors that can spend the time to keep an eye on us? Can someone build a "Doctor as a Service" that I feel is always available and will spot unusual patterns in my results, rather than the doctor roulette of medical centers? Should I just get an exhaustive imaging scan every two years to find those dark patches that will eventually kill me ten years from now? Has anyone, as a founder or engineer, found a way of integrating a medical check into their lives that seems to make sense?

>Our work leaves little time in the day for many regular administrative tasks, much less more spaced out tasks like health checkups. We work long hours in tense environments, but with little cardiovascular activity.

We bust our asses almost as much as any other working person, and like most other working people have little free time during the day.

>We work long hours in tense environments, but with little cardiovascular activity. If we do perform regular exercise, many of us gravitate towards very goal oriented intense workouts like spin classes, crossfit, marathons, century bike rides, etc. With such limited time and a drive to "succeed" at anything we do, there are no half measures.

We're special snowflakes who can do everything! Except take care of ourselves, because that's boring.

>I recently skipped on a doctor's visit, despite my company having access to on-site physicians.

I'm too lazy to walk down the hall, and don't have a problem making appointments I'm not planning to keep.

>The problem was a "typical male" problem, but a few hours of research led me to believe I understood the symptoms and the physiology enough to spend the time on some critical stuff that needed to be done.

But it doesn't really matter whether I see a doctor, because I ignore medical advice on general principle.

>My head was also filled with the drama of the U.S. medical system, where tests would be ordered that left me with a feeling of dread and uncertainty for weeks

And really, all I want is simple reassurance,

>despite the statistics indicating a serious condition was extremely unlikely.

so I can sue everybody involved when I develop an unlikely serious condition.

>can we use our healthy remuneration packages to visit doctors that can spend the time to keep an eye on us?

I'd like a doctor to visit me at my desk, but not the distracting sort of doctor that palpitates my abdomen and asks me questions when I'm trying to understand really important code. By "visit" I do not mean anything that involves traveling.

>build a "Doctor as a Service" that I feel is always available

even more available than my on-site medical center

>and will spot unusual patterns in my results

despite not doing any testing with which to generate results

>Should I just get an exhaustive imaging scan every two years to find those dark patches that will eventually kill me ten years from now?

ask your doctor/any doctor, who's trained for decades to answer questions like this

>Has anyone, as a founder or engineer, found a way of integrating a medical check into their lives that seems to make sense?

Yes: 1. Find a doctor that works nights and weekends 2. Leave work during the day, which isn't difficult for us white-collar types 3. Make the time to do it, just like you make the time to do other unpleasant but necessary things

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