Good Cop, Bad Cop
April 25th, 2008. Filed under: Finance & Fitness Fridays.
Well, not exactly. How about good doctor, bad doctor? I’m not talking about clinical skills. I’m talking about how the doctor treats his patient as a person. Two years ago when I was working at a relatively new job I had several high blood pressure readings in a row and decided I should see a doctor and have it checked out more thoroughly. I had moved and not yet found a family doctor. I was in a bit of a quandary as I didn’t want to put off this check up. I thought about seeing the medical director of the hospice where I was employed, but was still hesitant. I had sat in on a meeting where he was present. During the entire meeting he was playing with his palm pilot or whatever it was instead of paying attention. In spite of this, I figured he must be a good doctor or he wouldn’t be our medical director and went ahead and made an appointment. I was told that this would just be a focus appointment, meaning that only the blood pressure would be addressed and not anything else. That was fine with me, so I showed up at the appointed time.
I sat and waited a long time, watching others go in and out. I had been waiting quite awhile before some of these people even showed up, and of course, drug reps were ushered in right away. That in itself was irritating as I knew they were there to give the doc free samples of their newest and most expensive drugs, thereby, encouraging him to give these out and write prescriptions for them rather than something that had been around, was now generic and, therefore, cheaper and probably worked better than the new, unproven medications the reps were pushing.
Finally I was allowed to go sit in the exam room and wait. When Dr. K showed up, he spent 15 minutes with me. Five minutes were spent checking my B/P, eyes, ears, nose and throat. Five more were spent with him asking me some questions, giving me grief with his smart alec attitude and continuing to get things mixed up that I had told him. I had also given him a copy of the vitamins and supplements that I took. He kept talking about my homeopathic medications. Shouldn’t a doctor know the difference between vitamins, supplements and homeopathic medications? The doctor then proceeded to write me a prescription for one of the new medications and got really pissed off when I requested that we try one of the old, proven meds and lifestyle changes before going with the hard hitters. I think the fact that I’m a nurse and interested in participating in my own health care irritated him as well. The last five minutes proved to be the real topper. This man did a big no no as far as medical etiquette and bedside manners are concerned. He stood in front of me and dictated my history and physical, getting a lot of it wrong. I corrected him several times and then just gave up. This man, who is a general practitioner labeled me in the H & P as having a psychiatric condition known as obsessive compulsive disorder. Talk about nasty and vengeful. I was working as a hospice nurse, but one of my past specialties was mental health.
I have to say that this man had the attitude of a surgeon. Now, I think surgeons are great people and do a wonderful job, but all you nurses out there know what I mean. It’s sort of a “god syndrome.” They literally hold a person’s life in their hands while in surgery. Maybe the reason for Dr. K’s attitude was that he was in charge of a person’s dying. Or maybe he is just a jerk.
But when they’re good, they’re really good! It took me another year before I would go see another doctor. I got my prescriptions refilled at a doc in the box clinic and then after moving, my weekend docs at a mental health facility where I worked, gave me refills. Eventually, I decided to bite the bullet and make another doctor’s appointment. I had moved back to a city where I used to live and tried to make an appointment with my former doc. I always got an answering machine when I called and would leave messages which would go unanswered. The last time I called, the number was no longer in service. She must have retired. So then I did what most people would do and checked to see what local doctors were covered under my health insurance. That was one long list. How did I narrow it down? I prefer osteopathic physicians, so that helped. From there I just picked the first one on the list that was close to where I live and then prayed a lot. I made the appointment, showed up on time and held my breath.
I was shown into the exam room on time, seen by a resident who was working with Dr. G, and then seen by Dr. G himself – all within a reasonable amount of time. I had a thorough history and physical taken, followed by a very thorough physical exam. Then the big surprise.
Dr. G actually sat down to talk to me and told me that he liked having nurses as patients because they ask questions, give input and want to take charge of their own health. Whooooo! I found a doctor who wants to work with me as a team member to improve my health. I can’t say enough good things about Dr. G and his staff. We do work as a team. Dr. G cared enough about my health to discover that I’m now a diabetic and have sleep apnea. Because of this and his treatment for it, I now have more energy, better health and a zest for life. And about that treatment. He agrees that the old tried and true medications should be used first and we’re working on lifestyle changes. I now exercise more (still need to improve that) and have lost 52 pounds (still need to work on that). I enjoy going to the doctor and he enjoys having me as his patient. He even encourages me when I bring him research that I’ve happened on and asks about where’s his articles when I forget to bring them in. Now, how’s that for a good doc?
July 1st, 2008 at 09:29
I’m not quite sure how you fit bereavement counselling into this post, but I do agree with you. I’m an RN with specialities in both hospice nursing and mental health nursing.