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by literalAardvark 338 days ago
Most doctors will prescribe antibiotics for viral infections just to get you out and the next guy in, they have zero interest in sitting there to troubleshoot with you.

For this reason o3 is way better than most of the doctors I've had access to, to the point where my PCP just writes whatever I brought in because she can't follow 3/4 of it.

Yes, the answers are often wrong and incomplete, and it's up to you to guide the model to sort it out, but it's just like vibe coding: if you put in the steering effort, you can get a decent output.

Would it be better if you could hire an actual professional to do it? Of course. But most of us are priced out of that level of care.
2 comments
andsoitis 338 days ago
> Most doctors will prescribe antibiotics for viral infections just to get you out and the next guy in

Where do you get this data from?

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somenameforme 338 days ago
Family in my case. There are two reasons they do this. A lot of people like medicine - they think it justifies the cost of the visit, and there's a real placebo effect (which is not an oxymoron as many might think).

The second is that many viral infections can, in rare scenarios, lead to bacterial infections. For instance a random flu can leave one more susceptible to developing pneumonia. Throwing antibiotics at everything is a defensive measure to help ward of malpractice lawsuits. Even if frivolous, it's something no doctor wants to deal with, but some absurd number - something like 1 in 15 per year, will.

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literalAardvark 338 days ago
Lived experience. I'm not in the US and neither are most doctors.
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bdangubic 338 days ago
I can co-sign this being bi-coastal. in the US not once have I or my 12-year old kid been prescribed antibiotics. on three ocassions in europe I had to take my kid to the doctor and each time antibiotics were prescribed (never consumed)
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asadotzler 338 days ago
Your claim of most here is not only unsupported, it's completely wrong.
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literalAardvark 338 days ago
I'd like to see your support for that very confident take.

In my experience it's not only correct, but so common that it's hard not to get a round of antibiotics to go.

The only caveat is that I'm in the EU, not the US.

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