Notes from the Office

I am continually amazed to hear how bad some physicians can be.

Mind! I am hearing the reports about bad doctors through the reports and complaints of transfer patients. And by definition patients transferring to me are doing so because they were unhappy elsewhere.

However, enough of them report the same problems that suggest they are not wrong - there are a lot of dud docs out there.

 

I am not a genius; I am not the crème de la crème of physicians (if I was, I would be teaching/working in some university). However, I am careful to do the following –

 

1- Listen to people

2 -Take a good history

3 -Clarify – and convey – the diagnosis

4 -Change things when people report something isn’t working or tolerable.

 

These four basic procedures seem to be lacking in Arizona.

 

I recently saw a woman working with the same psychiatrist for over 20 years. She is taking the same 2 medicines with no trials of anything else. She reported the Rx have not been helpful for years. Apparently the psychiatrist told her ‘there wasn’t anything else (to try)”. To make things worse, what she was taking isn’t the right sort of medicine for the working diagnosis.

I changed her medication and to something more suitable for her condition; she already feels better (for me listening to her?)     She thinks me a genius.

 

I often get feedback I am great but I am merely doing a competent job.

And there lies my point – if these folks are to be believed, there are a lot of docs out there NOT doing a competent job.  

 

It is chilling.