Discussion: I read a lot about my heart disease online. Whenever I come in with questions and suggestions for my attending physician, I feel reluctant. He even sent me one time when he got upset taking care of myself online. Is this a familiar phenomenon?

In the modern age, information is available to everyone. However, sometimes, the materials are difficult to understand for the average patient, with the intention that the information will be available mainly to doctors. In the last decade, when almost everyone has a smartphone, medical information has been open to everyone, and many patients come to their doctor with (legitimate) questions. In different cultures, the doctor is perceived as knowing everything. Therefore, some doctors perceive the questions from the internet as a violation of their professional authority and are sometimes expressed in impatient statements. In my estimation, the scope of the phenomenon will only get worse. Excellent and confident doctors should not feel threatened but try to think of other thought directions while analyzing alternatives to those they know.