I was raised by a registered nurse and subjected to two decades of military healthcare, which gives me a somewhat biased & jaded view of the medical field.
So let me go out of my way to praise a doctor.
He's in his high 40s or low 50s, very fit & very lean, no paunch or slouch, and doesn't look exhausted or burned out. Casual shirt & slacks, no lab coat or stethoscope or other doctor paraphernalia. He was actually running ahead of schedule on a late weekday afternoon. He even came out into the waiting room to pick up my records and call me back to the examining room. He said he'd come back early from lunch and thought he'd get a head start on the afternoon patients.
I asked "Do the other doctors know that you go into the waiting room by yourself to get your patients?!?" He laughed and said that he rented the room and the records storage from the clinic but that he didn't pay them for any other administrative services. He actually did his own paperwork and managed or outsourced the rest of his business.
We discussed my minor foot question and he said that there was nothing medically wrong but that they must be getting bruised or scraped up. He was interested and he asked a lot of questions without seeming to be running down a checklist. That led to a tae kwon do discussion and he admitted that he had the same symptoms with his feet from jogging. His biggest problem was that his knees & feet could no longer take the shocks. He talked about treatment options for other foot symptoms but he said that I didn't need to worry about them. He had a bunch of questions about running, stretching, tae kwon do, swimming, surfing, & yoga to the point where I seemed to be giving more advice than I was getting. He was relaxed & took his time, he said "You're fine but please call if it gets worse", and then we were done. No brusque "I'm the doctor" authoritarianism, no rushing on to the next patient, no impatience, and a manner more like a friendly mechanic or a tour guide than a medical professional. He even smiled.
I thought podiatry could be a pretty gross field but it seems to be working for this guy. It's a shame he's not a GP, but maybe being a podiatrist is why he's so happy!
So let me go out of my way to praise a doctor.
He's in his high 40s or low 50s, very fit & very lean, no paunch or slouch, and doesn't look exhausted or burned out. Casual shirt & slacks, no lab coat or stethoscope or other doctor paraphernalia. He was actually running ahead of schedule on a late weekday afternoon. He even came out into the waiting room to pick up my records and call me back to the examining room. He said he'd come back early from lunch and thought he'd get a head start on the afternoon patients.
I asked "Do the other doctors know that you go into the waiting room by yourself to get your patients?!?" He laughed and said that he rented the room and the records storage from the clinic but that he didn't pay them for any other administrative services. He actually did his own paperwork and managed or outsourced the rest of his business.
We discussed my minor foot question and he said that there was nothing medically wrong but that they must be getting bruised or scraped up. He was interested and he asked a lot of questions without seeming to be running down a checklist. That led to a tae kwon do discussion and he admitted that he had the same symptoms with his feet from jogging. His biggest problem was that his knees & feet could no longer take the shocks. He talked about treatment options for other foot symptoms but he said that I didn't need to worry about them. He had a bunch of questions about running, stretching, tae kwon do, swimming, surfing, & yoga to the point where I seemed to be giving more advice than I was getting. He was relaxed & took his time, he said "You're fine but please call if it gets worse", and then we were done. No brusque "I'm the doctor" authoritarianism, no rushing on to the next patient, no impatience, and a manner more like a friendly mechanic or a tour guide than a medical professional. He even smiled.
I thought podiatry could be a pretty gross field but it seems to be working for this guy. It's a shame he's not a GP, but maybe being a podiatrist is why he's so happy!
