The professions are under attack!! Try not to panic.

By professions, I mean: MDs, accountants, pharmacists, lawyers or any job that requires a few letters behind one’s name and a Diploma on the wall as proof of credentials.

Yes, The professions are dying, does the idea seem absurd? Why are they dying?

If you are a professional, don’t worry, we still require your intuition and experience, and it will be many years before the professions will become significantly less important than they are today. They have, however, lost a little chunk of their authority. Let me explain:

A few months ago, I was unfortunate enough to come down with a fairly bad case of the flu. In my family, the answer to the flu is pretty standard, it includes taking, two extra strength generic pain killers, drinking some water and rest.

Sounds pretty normal and unspectacular doesn't it?

This particular flu bug, however, was more persistent than usual. This time, the family remedy had failed to quash the symptoms quick enough to my satisfaction. So, I decided to go to the Doc's office.

Upon arrival, I explained the situation to the Doctor. He then jotted down a few notes on small piece of paper and handed it to me. It was a prescription for a week’s supply of antibiotics. On the way out the door he mumbled, if the symptoms continue for more than a week, I should come back and see him.

That two minute chat with the MD cost me $34.00. The pills cost me $60.00; the total trip to the doc and pharmacist cost me $94.00 and about 35 minutes of my day. I suppose I should mention that the pharmacist told me what side effects to expect. But, for some strange reason, I was not satisfied with the trip and how the cash was used.

I spent the rest of that day surfing the internet searching for answers to my frustrations.

I love the internet. The internet is kind of like the brain that isn't attached to the body; it can calculate, translate languages, advertise products, remember history, teach us about science and technology and more. Virtually, the sum of human knowledge can be accessed by all on a whim. And the information is all up to date!

Anyways, getting back to my story, I thought it might be a good idea to read about the medication. I was about to consume. After typing the name of the prescribed antibiotic onto a random search engine, within a few moments, I was able to find most, if not all of the existing information regarding the drug. I found out, what the drug was used for, how to use it, and a lot of other useful information.

I was encouraged to look further.

Now that I knew what the drug was used for, how and when to take it, I thought, to myself, this information is not very useful unless I can figure out how to diagnose illnesses.

I continued my search and eventually was able to find 20 or so websites that were specifically made to aide in the diagnosis of common illnesses. Some of them were even kind enough to suggest medications.

Up to this point, I had found a large pool of information used to diagnose illnesses, a library of drugs telling me what was used for what, when and how to take them. Plus, I also know what side effects one could expect from each medication.

Heck, this is almost like practicing medicine!

The last variable holding me back was the issue of prescriptions. As most people know, off -the-shelve drugs require a prescription. Only doctors can issue prescriptions-one of the traditional barriers seperating the professional class from the joe shmoe class.

If I could just get by this one last hurdle, I was well on my way to practicing medicine; at least in a limited fashion.

With a few clicks of the mouse and a little determination, I was able to find several online overseas pharmacies that did not require doctor prescriptions so long as the drugs being ordered were not controlled substances.

A credit card would also be needed.

Okay, so, let's get this straight: On the net, one can diagnose an illness, find which medications are used to treat the illness and then order medications from overseas; all without leaving home. Is this not practicing medicine?

Of course most of us would never be able to perform any kind of complex treatments on ourselves or other individuals; that would be unsafe and just plain dumb. Further, I would never recommend that anyone do this! The point is it's possible! No, qualifications needed; internet capable PC access, a credit card and you’re all set to go.

Since then, I have been using the internet to run double checks on any doctor's recommendations. On one occasion, to the surprise of my family doctor, I happened to know more about the ill-effects of a drug than he did. He even double checked his official medication manual to see if I was right or not. Which I was!!

How often does one challenge the authority or advice of a physican, pharmacist or lawyer?

Personally, I will never again blindly trust what any professional advises me to do. The knowledge and experience of MDs, pharmacists, lawyers and so on, is by far superior to mine. However, they no longer control a monopoly over the information that they once did.

+1 for the common man, -1 for the professional class.

The internet is still a relatively new and untapped source of information and it will take everyday people a few more years to figure out how to use this knowledge to it's full potential. Nonetheless, the notion that, the professions are dying, isn't as radical as one might think.