So, I am going to discuss something that has been on my mind for a while: my beef with so called "doctors." Well, I guess they're real doctors.
I have become well accquainted with my OBGYN and to a slightly lesser degree, our pediatrician, not to mention countless nurses, social workers, lactation consultants, medical billing specialists etc. I also have many friends in med school, or whose spouses are in med school, or PAs or what have you. And I can definitely understand the pressures of doctors, the expense of becoming a doctor, and the always exasperating futility of dealing with stupid, stupid people. In fact, I'm sure doctors see more than their fair share of stupid people. That being said-
The relationship that is created between doctors and their patients is one of the most important artificial relationships that a person becomes involved with. And it leads to feelings similar to that a real relationship, at least, for me it does. I experienced some of the highest of the high moments with my OBG, definitely my most terrifying moments, and some of my lowest of the lows. And all this leads to a heart-rending "on again off again" rollercoaster for me.
At one point, you are the center of their universe, and nothing could ever be more important than YOU. And then the next week, when you go in for your umpteenth blood draw appointment, they barely have time to smile at you. Not less than three times did my doctor (her nurse actually--god forbid a doctor acutally talk to a patient!) forget to call me with test results which led to me not taking proper medicine. I had many many questions for her, and I couldn't get ahold of her at all. I asked the nurse to have her call me, or at least address some issues. I didn't ask for her home phone number or anything like that, I'm not stupid. I just wanted to ask the professional I'm paying thousands and thousands of dollars to answer my questions. One phone call. I have never even spoken to her in her office. And the same goes for my pediatrician. He didn't even come into the NICU the day Eve was discharged! And none of the nurses at his office know what is going on with Eve, so they never correctly answer my questions, even when I tell them the whole story.
I guess what I'm tring to say is this: when dealing with non-stupid people, or in my case, very intelligent people, don't treat them like they're dumb, or unimportant. Don't forget to talk to them and answer their questions. Just because I chose not to go to med school does not mean that I am less of a person. In fact, I'm confident with a month's training, I could correctly perform most minor surgeries. But I digress. I am always sad when I realize that I will never be as important to my doctor as he/she is to me. It's the classic unrequited love story. I give and give and give, and they say nice/terrifying things to get you into the proverbial bed, and then "forget" to call you the next day.
If doctors are like this because they are overworked, then I think it's their duty and obligation to established patients to reduce the workload, thus allowing them to better diagnose and heal. If doctors act like douches because they are selfish and think they're better than their patients, then they need to spend some time performing douches on themselves to clean out all the crap.
I love my doctors. But they hurt me emotionally. They have the unfair advantage of being the only option when it comes to serious medical matters, people become dependant, the cycle continues...
okay, I'm done complaining now.
Here are some cute pics of Eve:
Eve and I on our first stoller walk!
I never thought I would put my baby in a bonnet. But I did, and it's cute!
Eve in her Easter dress. She kept making goofy faces. This is the most normal of them.
Richie took this picture. He calls it "Crazy Eyes."
Eve in a beautiful sleeper dress that her aunt Heidi and cousin Katrina gave her. I want her to be blessed in it if she'll still fit it in three weeks!
4 comments:
I read this interesting study on how patients can get an idea of how well they connect with their doctor within the first 30 seconds of meeting them...and that directly influences the likelihood of them suing their doctor for malpractice. If more doctors would work on their bedside manners, maybe their malpractice insurance rates would lower.
That being said, I know that most primary care doctors (peds, internist, family and in some cases, ob/gyns) are completely overworked because they are taking on so many medicare and medicaid patients that reimburse them only a small fraction of their costs...so to stay afloat they have to take on more and more and more patients with less time spent with each, at the detriment of the quality of their care. If health care policy were reformed (and I'm not even beginning to say I know HOW to do that...) but when it is, I believe that primary care doctors will be able to provide better care because they will actually get paid for it. :)
That all being said, I'm just glad Matt decided to go into a specialty where these concerns (hopefully) won't be as big... :)
I'm sure that being a medical professional is a very hard job on many levels. And I totally agree with you on the health care reform issue. I have no idea how to fix it, but it needs to be fixed. Fix it! But I also have a hard time sympathizing with dotors who say they aren't getting paid enough, but drive cars better equipped than my house, and wear pants that cost hundreds of dollars. Incidentally, our pediatrician is originally from cache valley, and he wears really really nice pants. But he also makes numerous "folksy" jokes that aren't funny and star trek references, which leads me to say you can take the boy out of cache valley, but you can't take cache valley out of the boy. But he's a great pediatrician. :)
Also, from talking to many pregnant women, I think good bedside manner to most patients is just the actual act of sitting down with the patient in the same room and not once checking your watch.
Nice treatise Née; especially thrilling was your use of the word "douches."
I'm confident with a month's training, EVE could correctly perform most minor surgeries, too! Look at her bright little expressions. Aww, baby.
BTW, I have a drawing class of all girls this session, and they are sweethearts. Eve has opened my mind to the truth: that little girls are precious.
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