Yes, in about 1960. The doctor lived three houses down, but even with that housecalls were dying out by that point.
I was the patient and would have happily deferred the entire visit as it involved a shot, which was the WORST THING IN THE WHOLE WORLD to me at the time. :rolleyes:
Can you hear me Dr. Woo?
Are you really the man
That I once knew?
Yeah, I long for the days when a shot was the very, very worst and most awfulest thing that could happen (besides the hairbrush!). Nowadays I long for a day when I have enough time to get a vaccination and show off how tuff I am with the new thinner needles.
I remember vaguely that in the 60s my mother called the doctor to see if he could come over for a minor problem my brother had, but the doctor convinced her that a doctor’s attention was not needed. But he must have still been making house calls if she asked…
My grandmother recently moved to an independent living facility. Each resident has their own apartment, but there are also communal areas for food, activities, etc.
There is a doctor that comes by three times a week, and you can schedule your appointment with the front desk. She will come to each resident’s apartment, and do whatever needs done. They also have a podiatrist who comes by once a month and will do in-apartment appointments. Both of those folks also have an office area where they will do appointments in the building, for residents who would rather not have someone in their apartment.
When I was in sixth grade(1966-1967) I got very sick. All I remember is going home on Friday feeling awful, and then getting a high fever. I vaguely remember a doctor(there was a white coat anyway) peering down at me. I’m told my fever was 105 degrees. Why I wasn’t in the ER I don’t know, but I did get well, missing only three days of school.
When my son was born, our pediatrician offered to come by our house on a Saturday and check on the baby when he had some concerns about the progression of his jaundice. In the end, after we got the blood work back, we all decided it could wait until his Sunday clinic - but it was thaaaaat close. This was in 2010.
1936? How old were you then? How did you survive double pneumonia at that age in that era?
I lived out in the country in New Zealand, and we had the occasional house call up until 1982 or so. It stopped at about the same time we got push button phones. I wonder if those were related.
NYC, Spring of 2012! But maybe it doesn’t count b/c I was on an executive travel insurance plan and house calls were part of the service.
I have not but my doctor’s practice offers them. I’ve just never needed one.
Yes, when I had swine flu in, 2009.
They sent doctors out to some people who they were pretty certain had it, so they could take swabs. They didn’t want me to come in to the surgery - my then partner asked if they wanted me to come in and their response was Vader-like.
Also when my daughter had a bad fever in about 2004. I thought it was an overreaction, but apparently there was a measles outbreak at the time.
How did they treat pneumonia back then?, they didn’t have antibiotics I don’t think.
Same here! Measles. 1950. I was 3.
Concierge Medicine is on the rise. Often it’s offered by a doctor retiring from his regular practice. House calls may be part of the services offered. I know my childhood physician is doing that now. Around 1972 my brother came down with appendicitis. The physician mentioned above was on vacation but a doctor covering for him came to the house to see what was wrong with him. Good thing, he had him rushed to the hospital and they operated immediately.
Comfort measures, basically. “Watchful waiting.” Bedrest was a common prescription (today we’re not so keen on total bedrest) with lots of soup.
There are herbal treatments that many people have used in many parts of the world, including mullein, lobelia, thyme, sage, oregano, horehound, hyssop and wild cherry bark. Mustard plasters, chest rubs with camphor, menthol, mint, peppers or horseradish (Vicks Vaporub was marketed at the turn of the century), rubbing alcohol and turpentine were used externally to try to break up chest congestion and ease coughing.
It was common for people to turn up the heat (before central heating, they would build a fire in the room even in summer, or to surround the patient with hot bricks or irons covered with clot) and cover them with lots and lots of blankets to try to raise the body temperature and “sweat it out.” I’m not sure if that strategy was still in use in the 1930s. It’s not done today - if the person is cold, sure, get them another blanket, but we don’t try to sweat it out anymore.
Sulfapyridine (a sulfa drug) appeared in the late 1930s, followed by penicillin in the '40s.
Pneumonia killed a lot of people before antibiotics. It still does.
http://www.thoracic.org/education/breathing-in-america/resources/chapter-15-pneumonia.pdf
So before antimicrobial drugs, the home doctor would come by mostly to confirm that, yes, this is pneumonia, and to make his best guess as to whether it was secondary to a contagious condition and let the family know how strict the patient’s quarantine needed to be.
Even though American doctors dont make house calls normally, its not that they cant. Most doctors I know do still have that brown leather bag with instruments and occasionally will use it or at least have it with them. For example my sons scout troop has 2 doctors running it and when the they take the kids out camping, I notice they bring those bags.
My mom’s oncologist came by to look in on her once. Things were in the “keep her comfortable” stage by that point.
That was in 2011, so it does still happen.