Medscape is an on-line medical periodical that sends links to articles. These reads vary in their contents from the latest study in this, that, or the other, to social matters. These are mere headlines; they look to be carefully worded to entice me to click and go. To me they often look sensationalist, more akin to tabloid headlines than professional papers. A recent one caught my eye, it was titled:
Physicians Behaving Badly: Has It Gotten Worse?
Mind! I didn’t read all the article, but the gist was there’s a rise among physicians posting on social media, ranging from tasteless to downright gawd-awful-what-were-they-thinking sort of items. The authors of the article made the point some of these online shenanigans have led to investigations, being fired, and in some cases doctors having to resign their posts. I didn’t see if MDs were doing things more compared to non-MDs or to other medical professionals (nurses perhaps). Nor did I read much about the demographics of the dorky doctors posting this sort of stuff. In the summary the authors remind us we are an austere and dignified profession that must keep our dignity at all times and to think twice before posting on Facebook and Twitter that disgraceful photo or controvserial commentary.
As mentioned yesterday Urs Truly is continually on Facebook and I write here on WordPress on a near daily basis. I often wonder when The APA Secret Police will suddenly show up at my office ala The Spanish Inquisition and drag me away for deprogramming or perform a DEA-ectomy. Mind again! I think twice, nay three times, before I press the publish button. I don’t publish too much politics and when I write about work it is the abstract, but in this day and age when people no longer can take a joke even my attempts at humor and satire could result in my arrest (it could happen). Sometimes I think I should go back and remove entries of me wearing silly costumes and Viking hats, lest some future employer or patient find them.*
On the other hand I am nearly 60yo and have grown more not giving tuppence what others think. As stated yesterday my Bosses seem OK with me (or they feel stuck with me). I am known to clown around and wear silly hats and write rubbish about my house and mind being possessed. If the APA, The medical boards, the patients, nay the world, are shocked or outraged so bet it. The ghost or spirit of the late Anne Marie has joined the personnel here at Heorot Johnsons II to inspire me not to give a f-ck. (Oh that does sound like her! Thanks Warrior Queen! )
The Medscape article was worried about physicians behaving badly; I am more worried about not behaving badly enough. I suppose I could start writing some outrage or posting photos of me sans pants (there have been requests). If someone should be so mean-spirited and post a photo of me on holiday slightly pixilated in Palm Springs, I won’t deny it or apologize or be ashamed. I can always pick up my marbles, fling my feather boa over my shoulder (if I can get them over my horns) and head into the sunset, proud to know while I was a fool I didn’t do anything cruel or uncaring.
*Once in a while a patient will come in and announce “I found your blog”, usually in the second appointment, which implies a) they looked me up after the evaluation and b) it wasn’t so bad they didn’t return. I don’t know the number of folks who never make it in or return for follow up having read Spo-reflections and coming to the conclusion I am not to be trusted.
Spo-Reflections 
35 comments
August 8, 2021 at 11:14 AM
David Godfrey
I am measured in what I post, because if I write about my work, my employer owns the copyright. When I retire I can be more open. I have angered professional contacts by things that I have said on the blog, I really think that person is in desperate need of your professional services. As long as your dance card is full, let the patients who chose not to return, move on freely.
August 9, 2021 at 7:10 AM
Urspo
Fascinating if you write about work it is copyrighted material.
My dance card is more than full; people wait months to get in, even with bad reviews on line about the clinic (nota about me).
I have a pretty good secure job status
August 9, 2021 at 12:33 AM
Parnassus
Perhaps the best example of a physician gone wrong is the U.S. is (ex- and now late) Dr. James C. Burt from Dayton, a.k.a The Love Doctor. They didn’t have blogs in his heyday, but incredibly, he wrote a book highlighting his shenanigans.
–Jim
August 9, 2021 at 7:10 AM
Urspo
My ‘book’ is this blog. I hope not as abject or as notorious.
August 9, 2021 at 1:08 AM
Moving with Mitchell
Well that photo shouldn’t get you into any trouble. He kept your clothes on this time.
August 9, 2021 at 7:11 AM
Urspo
I guess the photo is enough to make someone upset or enough to ‘not want to see me’. OK by me.
August 9, 2021 at 1:09 AM
Moving with Mitchell
YOU… not HE.
August 9, 2021 at 3:34 AM
Paul Brownsey
Here’s something from the patient side. Recently I was assigned an appointment with a new doctor at my GP surgery. I discovered via social media that the doctor in question was a member of an evangelical church that, shall we say, has not been assiduous in welcoming same-sex marriage, though there was nothing explicit about that from him. The matter on which I was to see a doctor was unlikely to yield a session in which I wanted my husband present to hear the bad news I would be too stunned to take in. Still, I wanted no awkwardness down the line. Years ago I did a certain amount of agitation to have gay partners treated as next-of-kin for medical purposes, but I didn’t want another fight now. I asked, without giving that reason, for a different doctor. I suppose some might have gone further and tried to get him ‘cancelled’. I don’t know if I was over-cautious. Here’s a point against myself: he was trained in a medical school where I know he would not have been led to believe it was OK to burden his patients with his private religious beliefs.
August 9, 2021 at 7:13 AM
Urspo
Sometimes know a doctor’s or a patient’s personal life is better than knowing. I recently had a patient fall from grace in my esteem when they started ranting politics not to which I agree. I wonder what will happen next viz. when they realized I wasn’t enthusiastic in what they said, I sensed they sensed the penny drops.
I bet they are coming back though, as years of alliance and limited options are factors
August 9, 2021 at 3:50 AM
Debbie W.
The concept that we may hold physicians to a higher standard of sorts does make sense. But you summarize it very well in your last line: you may have been a fool (although I don’t believe this is exactly true), but you were never cruel and uncaring (which seems very true). IMHO there is nothing wrong with bringing a little lightness into this world, whether you are a physician or not. In fact, I would prefer a physician who did just that. It’s more human.
August 9, 2021 at 7:15 AM
Urspo
I hope laughter remains the best medicine, especially our ability to laugh at ourselves and our foibles. One of the many bad things the previous president did was not once admit error or laugh at himself – setting an ugly example to never admit wrong and all faults are due to others.
August 9, 2021 at 7:39 AM
Debbie W.
Extremely well-said! By being unable to laugh at himself, our last president made himself much more inhuman than human.
August 9, 2021 at 8:01 AM
Urspo
The inability to identify in yourself foibles and shortcomings and the inability to laugh at yourself for them is ominous sign of pathology. When I sense/encounter this in somebody I go immediately on guard to be very careful I am dealing with a case of severe mental illness (such abject depression) or – worse – a psychopath.
August 9, 2021 at 4:14 AM
Lori
I could write a book on this topic.
August 9, 2021 at 7:15 AM
Urspo
In a way you do on your blog hohoho
August 9, 2021 at 8:33 AM
Lori
No I would never put on my blog all that I know and have seen.
August 9, 2021 at 4:35 AM
earnestlydebra
Thanks for all the smiles that came with this one! 🙂 I’m glad you shared the photo again, I really wanted to see it as soon as it was mentioned. 🙂 My ill deeds are kept under-wraps – mean spirited messages to public officials, likely viewed by national security. The faxed image of a hyena may have gone too far. 🙂 They COULD come for me too! love, in lak’ech, Debra
August 9, 2021 at 7:16 AM
Urspo
Love ay too my deario !
August 9, 2021 at 4:55 AM
Dwight W.
Good Monday Morning , Dr. Spo. Nice quote from Anne Marie, lover of most of the Universe but especially us gays. It’s nice to have a Doctor who is very smart and attentive and on top of any and all medical conditions one might have. I would only probably leave a Physician for extreme cruelty to staff or patients, extreme stupidity such as Rand Paul exhibits every day or obvious substance abuse. I say the happier the physician in his ability to have a free happy life the better the care for everyone. You measure up just fine in one of the hardest branches of medicine , such as I can tell. The first thing I say when interviewing a new physician is” I’m gay , will that be a problem for you”
None so far. I had one Internist here in Florida for 29 years , she was very loving ,have a new male doctor , neither is a reprobate or perv.
August 9, 2021 at 7:17 AM
Urspo
It was a woman who inspired me to go into medicine (later I learned she was a dyke) Meeting new physicians is always a ticklish situation viz. will we click and will the MD hear/respect me – nowadays will they reject me for political reasons.
August 9, 2021 at 10:41 AM
Dwight W.
My Internist retired in January of 2020 , I believe she knew what was on the wind. But she had a right to her life.
August 9, 2021 at 6:13 AM
Tony D
I am very private online–and very careful about what I write about in my blogs, making sure to not say anything that could “take me down”. This threat is not imagined–I have told people to “f**k off” only to have them say to me, “I cannot believe you are a therapist!”, or worse.
One neighbor of mine was upset that I called a homeless person, who was starting to camp out next to our building, a “crazy old man” under my breath (but she heard it). She actually asked if the “Mental Health Board” would approve of my using the word “crazy”. WTF is the Mental Health Board? She is slightly “crazy” herself, but functional enough (functional but crazy is what populates Los Angeles) that I could see her trying to get me in trouble.
I remember I actually looked up what therapists can get in trouble for, and it is pretty specific: any acts of harm done in the line of duty. In other words, I can do pretty much anything legal in my personal life and it cannot be used against me by the governing agencies. Sure, “people” could try to cancel me, and that is why I stay pretty quiet. It is hard–I have a lot to say about things!
That being said, I know some therapists who don’t care. One of my former supervisors has nude pics online and some of his clients have seen them. He is a former Mr. International Leather, so there is not much hiding. He actually promotes it as a way to say, “You can be a sexual, naked person and still be a good therapist.” I agree with him. I am just not at the point where I need to press that issue with the general public.
As I am fond of saying, “My problem with the general public is that they are both general, and public.”
August 9, 2021 at 7:20 AM
Urspo
Thank you for writing this; I always enjoy hearing from you and what you think.
Patients are both horrified and titillated to find out something about my private life, even if it is as simple as a fondness for tea or my father being ill. Being discovered as a human not a god-like entity is both alarmin and a relief.
August 9, 2021 at 4:06 PM
Tony D
You like tea? I am calling the Mental Health Board!
August 9, 2021 at 7:16 AM
Old Lurker
I realized some time ago that the things I find entertaining and/or funny are utterly inappropriate for workplace contexts. So if I participate in such things (eg encouraging handsome bloggers to model their Derek Roses) then I am jeopardizing my good Henley St name.
I feel deeply uneasy about the expectation that one represents one’s employer at all times. As one who suffers from the curse of homosexuality I remember a time when being homosexual was grounds enough to get one fired. Was that just? If not, then what is this expectation that people are going to be good “brand ambassadors” for their employers even when they are not getting paid?
I believe in compartmentalization, not integration. If I do a good job at work and do not allow my personal views to interfere with the professionalism of my work life, then it should not be an issue what I do with my personal time. I extend this believe even to pasttimes that are utterly reprehensible. Similarly I do not believe that one should parade around one’s credentials in one’s personal life (“I am a proud member of the Ku Klux Klan, and this is a good thing because I am also a doctor”). This of course means that I am not integrated, but so what? I am multifaceted and some of those facets seem to contradict each other.
I am much more concerned when people’s conduct ON THE JOB is hurtful. There are plenty of those cases around to worry about without obsessing around whether somebody is posting QAnon theories on Facebook in their spare time.
August 9, 2021 at 7:21 AM
Urspo
Have you ever read Quentin Crisp? He always wrote about his ‘curse’ of being gay; so far as I know he never gave it up or changed despite everyone else doing so (well nearly everyone 🙂 )
August 9, 2021 at 8:11 AM
Old Lurker
Yes. I loved The Naked Civil Servant but in some ways it is a sad book.
August 9, 2021 at 9:25 AM
Linda Practical Parsimony
I do care what my physician does in his private time. If the good doctor does drugs, I don’t want him to operate on me! If he is gay, I might like him a bit more. What I care about is how he treats me. I had one doctor who was annoyed I could not walk the long, long distance to his office. He told me he did not operate on people who could not walk. I never went back. I don’t care if he is a saint in his personal life.
I already loved my oncologist, but one Saturday, he called to see how I was doing. I was confused. Had I called him? No, he just thought he would call me. AND, he was waiting for his child’s soccer game to begin. I thought the noise was the tv. I went to a new doctor this last week and he came out of the interview with flying colors. I am hiring him.
August 9, 2021 at 9:57 AM
Urspo
Good luck to have found a good doctor with whom you click!
This seems to be a rarity these days, alas. You are fortunate.
I am on tenterhooks The Good Doctor is someday going to announce he is retiring and I have to find a new one.
August 9, 2021 at 10:46 AM
Brian Dean Powers
When my previous care provider retired, I chose a new one who I had seen a few times and liked. During my annual checkup, he became very agitated when I asked about ongoing shoulder pain from a sports injury. He said only preventive medicine could be discussed given time restraints. His demeanor was abrupt, dismissive, and nothing like usual. I figured he was stressed. By the time I got home, he called me and apologized profusely. So doctors are people and they have bad days. He’s been a gem ever since.
August 9, 2021 at 11:40 AM
Pat
It some circles, it might be the cargo shorts more than the Viking hat that cause warning bells. I must say that seeing my dermatologist out and about one weekend in short shorts and a tank top (although we was wearing a large brimmed sun hat) was a bit alarming. A) for the lack of sun protection,B) he really couldn’t pull off this look. PS. With nigh on 11 months until you enter your seventh decade, the almost 60 comment may be premature. My father decided when people asked him how old he was in his later years for conversational rather than official settings he would add seven years. Always got a you look good for your age.He said he learned being barely 5 feet 7 that when people asked how tall he was it was because they thought he was short, so he would say 5′ 5″ and almost always said you seem taller.
August 9, 2021 at 11:47 AM
Urspo
LOL I care even less about thems chastising me for cargo shorts. In my defense this photo is several years old.
Running into one’s doctor (or dentist etc.) out of context is almost always
awkward for that reason; one doesn’t know the relationship dynamics in this new status. I once encountered one of my teachers in the steam room at the gym. Both of us buck-naked put a strain on decorum.
Your father sounds a hoot; thanks for sharing that.
August 9, 2021 at 2:21 PM
Todd Gunther
I used to be cautious, perhaps overly cautious before I met and married Anne Marie. Now, after that lifetime, I really don’t give a F what anybody thinks. Yes, she definitely rubbed off on me and I will be forever the better man for that.
Please do tell her that I still think of her the next time you see her spirit at Herot Johnsons II.
August 9, 2021 at 2:35 PM
Urspo
I think AM did a lot of good inspiring others to dance and stand up and not give a F. Good for her!
Imagine if her spirit does indeed show up at HJ2! I can only shudder at her kicking butt and scaring the daylights out of TBDHSR. I will let you know if there are any ructions
August 9, 2021 at 3:03 PM
Todd Gunther
By all means, keep us posted!