guess what... yesterday I went with my son to the paediatrician (ie another doctor, but with shiny and clean new practice - very "decorous" indeed).
the nurse who drew his blood was also NOT wearing gloves *sigh*
I confess that without the constructive comments which really helped me put this "habit" in perspective I might have jumped at her throat
so THANKS to all who contributed in a positive way to this thread for saving her life

on the other hand, the doctor was sooo nice and humane. realising that my son was scared about the blood drawing (due to a previous traumatic experience - nothing to do with gloves, though) he was incredibly gentle and funny and patient. result: it went quickly and smoothly and my son was proud of himself and won't ever be scared again.

so I've decided that I will accept this "habit" in whatever practice I land in the future, because, as someone was pointing out, the human aspect is just as important and was completely ignored where we lived before (and where everybody was wearing gloves )

Getting away from food to things medical...

I hear this all the time, mostly from my Swiss neighbors, so it's not just a comparison to medicine in other countries. In general, the reputation (general perception, mind, not necessarily reality) seems to be that a Swiss GP isn't good for much other than flu shots, and should not be counted on for a diagnosis.

(My own limited experience bears this out, but then I live in the back of the beyond where I would imagine few doctors who are good enough to have other options would want to practice. So I hesitate to generalize.)

May I ask, what is a Swiss GP's education?

And what is a Dr. Med. Prakt.? (Which is what my doctor is, which may be part of the problem. Nice person, but...)

End of term photo...

Not in my experience. We go to an HMO GP here in Basel who's every bit as good as any GP I've known. Friendly, helpful and knowledgeable.

I wonder if the attitude you encounter is down to folks not being happy when their own views are not supported by the GP. Certainly it's common in France, where a patient will only be happy after a GP visit if he's prescribed lots of drugs, particularly antibiotics, which many french people still believe are a cure for everything, including the common cold. If one doctor doesn't prescribe, they'll often go elsewhere, shopping around until they find one who will.

Especially as everyone is now an expert and knows more than the doctor thanks to the internet

Ace 1 this 'shopping around until you hear what you want to hear' is very prevalent in CH too, and costing 10000s which is why they are trying to encourage more people to have an 'official' GP whom you visit first. This shopping around was already very much the case when I was a child here in the 50s. One reason why a very good friend of mine and excellent GP in the UK just didn't want to work in CH.

If a my GP tells me that my weight is not helping the arthritis in my knees, I can tell her/him he doesn't know what s/he's talking about, and go and find another who'd say it wouldn't make much difference. Or I can listen and try and reduce my weight as it does make absolute sense- even if it hurt my pride at the time. If I smoke 1 packet a day and keep getting bronchitis and having to take antibiotics, and s/he says my smoking is making things much worse and another does of antibiotics won't help - I can do the same, etc, etc.

Sorry to raise a 2-months old thread.

Dr. med. prakt. means a practicing doctor in human medicine. Usually, this is followed by the medical subroutine, which for GP (Hausartzt) would be "Algemeine Medizin" (general medicine) or "Innere Medizin" (internal medicine).

In Switzerland, the basic medical doctor degree takes six years. Usually, medical doctors will then continue to specialize in a medical subroutine, of which algemein medizin is one. This typically will take another 5 to 6 years. For GPs, this is 3 years "Allgemeine Innere Medizin", and 2 years of different educational modules leading to GP or Internist in the Hospital. Therefore, the Swiss GP has a University (Fachhochschule) education of at least 11 years. And yes, this is on par with any US or UK education.

For more information, see the Swiss Institute for Medical Education (german) http://www.fmh.ch/bildung-siwf/weite...e_medizin.html