Russian doctors are alarmed by the negative attitude of society towards them

Russian doctors are alarmed by the negative attitude of society towards them – these are the results shown by a survey of the professional service “Doctor’s Directory”. They believe that this opinion about doctors is formed under the influence of mass media and social networks. Doctors warn that negative stereotypes about rudeness and extortion on the part of doctors can lead to dangerous self-medication and have a bad effect on the influx of young personnel into the profession. However, the Ministry of Health does not see “a trend towards targeted negative coverage of the work of doctors.”

In November, the professional service “Doctor’s Directory” surveyed doctors about how they assessed the image of a doctor in the mass media and public consciousness. 1,667 doctors answered the service’s questions. More than half (55%) believe that Russian society as a whole has a negative attitude towards doctors, 37% see a positive attitude, the rest “difficult to answer.” At the same time, 53% of respondents see that attitudes towards doctors have worsened “in the last few years.” Another 33% have not noticed any changes recently, and 14% mentioned positive changes.

Television, the Internet and social networks for the most part play a negative role in shaping the image of a doctor – this is the opinion of 52% of respondents. In the mass media, they most often observe (several options could be selected) the indifference of doctors to patients (indicated by 57%), incompetence (62%), negligence (58.7%), the desire to make money from the patient, “scam” for expensive treatment and procedures (47.6%), rudeness and rudeness (46.6%), the image of a “killer doctor” (36.5%), collusion with “Big Pharma” (27.8%), bribery (25.5%) , greed (19.6%), drunkenness in the workplace (13.6%), desire to harm (10.4%).

Such stereotypes can negatively affect the morale of doctors and reduce their motivation to work (34% of respondents). Other possible consequences are a decrease in patient confidence in healthcare (25.5%), a decrease in the influx of young specialists (10.3%), the popularization of “pseudo-doctors” (10%), the spread of myths and fake information (7.3%), and transition of citizens to risky self-medication (6.2%). Interestingly, 85% of respondents are sure that negative stereotypes about doctors influence the choice of profession by schoolchildren.

Co-chairman of the medical workers’ union “Action” Andrei Konoval agrees that “various comments on social networks and in publications” record a negative attitude towards doctors. However, the same patients also recall positive experiences with doctors, he notes. “But I understand the results of the survey. Indeed, any unfair review – even if there is only one – deeply hurts people who often work in difficult conditions, practically sacrificing themselves and their personal lives, says the trade unionist. “Many shortcomings in the work of medical institutions are transferred to specific doctors. It’s as if they are to blame, and not the system created by health care organizers.”

Sociologist, founder of the social design center “Platform” Alexey Firsov says that society’s attitude towards the healthcare system is “ambivalent”: there have been improvements recently, but the share of criticism is still high. And the doctor, as the “frontier” of this system, “falls under the threat,” says Mr. Firsov. Although this situation is “fluid”: “During the pandemic, we saw how much the authority of grassroots medical structures—those who directly communicate with patients—has grown. They enjoyed the greatest resource of trust at that time. I don’t think this effect has ended. People still remember.”

The head of the State Duma Committee on Health Protection, Badma Bashankaev, also recalls that during the pandemic, the gratitude of patients “knew no bounds.” But now, in his opinion, “medical everyday life” has arrived in the system of “doctor-patient” relations: “And this system is very complex. I call it a special emotional universe. A patient is admitted to the hospital with appendicitis, he feels strange and scared – he remembers all the horror stories from the press, and his stomach hurts. Here the doctor and nurses should be as empathetic as possible. You have to put yourself in the place of the sick person.” The deputy believes that legislative initiatives alone cannot solve the problem: “As for increasing the prestige of the profession, there are many components. These include steps towards interaction, mutual understanding, and mutual respect that doctors, patients, and journalists can take.”

Sergei Tsarenko, director of the National Medical Research Center for Clinical Hospital, chief freelance specialist in anesthesiology and resuscitation of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, believes that before the pandemic, the level of respect for the medical profession was rated “three.” During the pandemic, he approached the “five”, and now “somewhere at the level of four points.” “I don’t feel negativity from patients towards me personally and the doctors around me. Until now, people remember with warmth our clear, dedicated, beautiful work during Covid. And we live to a large extent on this vote of confidence, an formed opinion that has not yet changed,” says Mr. Tsarenko. “If we lose this vote of confidence, it will not be the doctors who will suffer first of all. I feel very sorry for my colleagues, they feel the pressure of negativism and so on, but I also feel very sorry for the patients. If people don’t trust a doctor, then he can help them at best with half his capabilities.”

The Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation also reminds that during the pandemic “there was an increase in positive assessments of the activities of health workers, respect and the number of positive reviews of health workers increased significantly.” But even after the pandemic, “interest and attention to medical workers and health topics from the media remains at a high level” – the number of publications on this topic has more than quadrupled compared to pre-pandemic 2019. “At the moment, there is no trend towards targeted negative coverage of the work of doctors,” the ministry is confident. “The presented data from a survey of users of a single Internet resource are not representative for assessing how doctors evaluate the image of a doctor in the mass media and public space. It is also necessary to make allowances for the fact that doctors are not experts in assessing the work of the media and public opinion; they most often do not have the necessary tools for monitoring and analyzing the media space. And thus, the result of this survey can only represent the private opinion of individual respondents who are not experts.”

Natalia Kostarnova