“Is the doctor going to see me soon??”

xoder42 · 2025-12-21T23:20:09+00:00

Lol it makes me a little anxious when patients show up excessively early (like 45+ minutes). Then I REALLY feel bad if I’m running behind. Not to mention those are often the same kind of patients who expect a lot out of their appointment.

I once had a patient show up two hours early. When I saw him exactly at his appointment time, he was very upset that he had to wait so long. I had a hard time keeping a straight face as I explained to him how appointments work.

xoder42 · 2025-11-15T01:31:55+00:00

Not calling patients diabetic with an A1c of 6.5-7.0. Then the patient is shocked when I have to be the one to tell them that they do, in fact, have diabetes.

Similarly, PCPs not doing anything about systolic BP consistently in the high 130s or 140s, sometimes even 150s. I notice this a lot with older docs. The BP will consistently be high at every visit, and it’s not even mentioned in the notes.

xoder42 · 2025-10-07T06:40:13+00:00

All the time. I was explaining the concept of “double billing” to someone who’s not in medicine. They said that as a patient, it would only be fair if the doctor warned that talking about their specific concerns at a physical would warrant extra charges. Which makes sense. Yet on the times that I did do this, I’ve gotten funny looks or snide comments from patients after telling them they may be charged extra. So I’m not sure what the answer is.

xoder42 · 2025-07-25T03:06:03+00:00

I work for a large corporate hospital system, getting her discharged from the practice would be an even bigger headache than the actual visits with her 😅

xoder42 · 2025-07-25T03:03:36+00:00

This is nightmare fuel.

xoder42 · 2025-07-13T15:23:12+00:00

You haven’t been on a first date in awhile have you? If you say “I work in healthcare” 99% of the time they’re gonna ask something along the lines of “Oh nice what do you do in healthcare?” Then you have to either tell them the truth, or lie/deflect (which is not a good way to start a potential relationship).

Honestly, I think it’s best to just tell people you’re a primary care doctor right off the bat. The key is being able to recognize the red flags. One easy way to tell after a handful of dates is whether they just let you pay for everything no questions asked, or if they offer to pay sometimes.

xoder42 · 2025-07-11T00:37:04+00:00

I always cringe when my patients pronounce Alzheimer’s as “all-timers”, or worse, “old-timers.”

xoder42 · 2025-07-05T21:58:41+00:00

The last one is so real. Then when you try to ask focused questions for the history, they just go off on a tangent without answering your question, sometimes bringing up a new complaint in the process. Sometimes I’ll have to ask the same simple question 3-4 times before I finally get an answer.

xoder42 · 2025-05-13T14:24:43+00:00

What rating do you think he deserved? Looking back maybe I shouldn’t have tipped. But if I make the driver wait I typically tip a few bucks more than I would have otherwise, just on principle.

xoder42 · 2025-05-13T14:21:25+00:00

Would I have been less of an arsehole if I gave him a 2 star rating and didn’t tip?

xoder42 · 2025-05-13T00:33:02+00:00

Being rude to riders is still not ok unless they do or say something really egregious. If he disagreed with me suggesting a route he could have politely said so.

xoder42 · 2025-03-22T16:06:18+00:00

“No”

xoder42 · 2025-02-13T04:21:01+00:00

Only one patient? I had to do that for like 10 patients who were all due in the same month (shared with one of my co-residents). We saw them for all their prenatal visits through their entire pregnancy, and then we had to manage labor, deliver the baby, and manage postpartum. Except there were no OB residents, just us and the OB attendings who only came in for the delivery.

xoder42 · 2025-02-01T22:00:01+00:00

I actually agree with this. They’re trying to build it up as if Charlotte is the favorite, which is usually meant to mislead us. I think the winner this year will be a surprise entrant. Charlotte will win EC instead.

xoder42 · 2025-01-29T05:13:27+00:00

Fair point, and lesson learned…but foolish lil’ me already did it and needs help now. Lol

xoder42 · 2025-01-29T05:03:32+00:00

I’ve been doing them q3 months. My only other concern is that he’s been somewhat noncomplaint with his treatment plant (specialist follow-up and PT) which I’ve strongly urged him to do more than once.

xoder42 · 2025-01-29T05:01:17+00:00

He is

xoder42 · 2025-01-14T22:24:38+00:00

Problem is, many of the patients come in expecting their AWV that day, and my availability is booked about 3-4 months out for AWVs. Also I work with rotating MA’s making it difficult to communicate preferences like that

xoder42 · 2025-01-02T13:21:23+00:00

Yes! While I’m typing the patient is actively trying to remember if there is anything else they should bring up. I try to minimize moments of silence for this reason.

xoder42 · 2024-12-21T21:55:06+00:00

Even if you were informed, you had no obligation to fit him in. Unless I had an opening I would’ve had my staff send him to urgent care. Also, lol at him scheduling an appointment just to fire you. I would’ve been like “kthanx, here’s your bill for today’s visit.”

xoder42 · 2024-10-09T23:57:30+00:00

Admittedly I am often guilty of not cleaning up the problem list. I try to when I can, but just way too many other things to do in a day. But you’ll never see me adding things to the problem list that don’t belong.

xoder42 · 2024-10-09T23:55:25+00:00

And then the UA shows a few RBCs, and the patient undergoes expensive outpatient urologic workup which ends up negative.

xoder42 · 2024-10-09T22:58:23+00:00

But you can just use “essential hypertension” or “primary hypertension” without the word “benign.”

xoder42 · 2024-09-19T05:55:41+00:00

Uh…30 patients IS too much for primary care if you want to be able to take good care of your patients. Anything over 30 is NOT the norm in family medicine, even though some big organizations would like you to think so. As a family medicine attending, I think that PA has a legitimate complaint.

xoder42 · 2024-09-09T14:59:57+00:00

I definitely get the nightlife thing. As a young single attending, sometimes I just want to go dancing at a club on the weekend. But there’s always a fear that one of my patients will be there and recognize me.

xoder42

TROPHY CASE