Physicians obviously play a very important role when it comes to healthcare around the world. 

After all, patients rely upon them for diagnosis, general guidance, and recommendations for medicine.

When a patient attends an appointment with a physician, they assume that the physician is well equipped with knowledge and resources to help them.

That is especially true when it comes to a patient previously diagnosed with a serious condition crafting an ongoing strategy to treat the condition.

Unfortunately, many patients do not feel confident when it comes to physicians and cannabis according to the results of a recent survey.

Physicians and Cannabis

Researchers at the University of Michigan Medical School recently conducted a survey involving 275 medical cannabis patients.

The survey involved medical cannabis patients in the United States, however, the results of the survey are similar to other results found throughout the globe and are applicable worldwide.

Survey participants were asked how confident they were when it comes to their primary care physician’s knowledge of medical cannabis.

“Only 18 percent of participants rated their PCP’s [primary care provider’s] knowledge about medical cannabis as very good or excellent and only 21 percent were very or completely confident in their PCP’s ability to integrate medical cannabis into their treatment,” researchers stated.

“Our study highlights the need for better integration between medical cannabis and mainstream healthcare, including enhancing PCP education on cannabis, the endocannabinoid system, and the benefits, risks, and harms of cannabis in relevant therapeutic contexts,” researchers concluded.

What is the Impact?

When patients do not have confidence in their primary physician, they are less likely to be candid about their lifestyle during interactions with their physician.

That can have a negative impact on the patient’s wellness strategy because their physician is giving guidance based on partial information.

The cannabis plant can interact with other medications in a way that may be undesirable or make a wellness strategy less effective than it otherwise would be.

Some patients will seek a second opinion, however, many will not and rely on a physician’s stigma-based guidance to refrain from using medical cannabis all together.