# I waited to see the doctor today for a fucking hour and a half! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 26, 2003, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-waited-to-see-the-doctor-today-for-a-fucking-hour-and-a-half/184415 "2003-06-26T01:30:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-waited-to-see-the-doctor-today-for-a-fucking-hour-and-a-half/184415/41 "2003-06-27T23:39:44Z")
I’m on a county-subsidized health care plan, so I’m pretty much grateful that anybody will see me. 🙂 It does strike me as ironic that they always say to be “fifteen to twenty minutes early” for your appointment, though. WHY? Like it’s going to make a difference! The last time I was at the doctor’s office for an early morning appointment, one of the nurses walked through the waiting area, which was crammed, and sighed, in an under-his-breath-but-I-hope-they-hear-me way, and said, “Sure wish the docs would show up!” I guess he was trying to make it clear that it wasn’t _his_ fault we were all waiting around. And to be fair, my appt. was at 9:30 a.m., and I saw the doc at 9:50. I thought that was more than fair for County health care. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-waited-to-see-the-doctor-today-for-a-fucking-hour-and-a-half/184415/42 "2003-06-28T00:10:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GMRyujin \* > \*\*Really? The clinic I used to go to for my old health plan could usually squeeze me in either that day or the next if I wasn’t picky about times (if I was sick enough to go to the doctor, I was home from work anyway) and I usually didn’t have to wait too long, maybe 15 minutes. \*\* What _that’s_ because you’re in a _secret dojo_. Duh. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![thatDDperson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@thatDDperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thatDDperson)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-waited-to-see-the-doctor-today-for-a-fucking-hour-and-a-half/184415/43 "2003-06-28T06:50:09Z")
With some doctors, it’s worth the wait. My endocrinologist (before cancer diagnosis) woul often be running hours and hours behind. No patients ever left. He was good and patient, and had the staff keep you updated on how long the delay would be. Once you were in his office, no other patients existed, though. YOU were the focus of his attention. If handling your issues for the day took more than your alloted time, he didn’t run you out the door. Of course, he was a GYN-Endo, so he had a number of extenuating circumstances. The birth of babies for his infertility patients were the usual big delays, but the hospital actually built a crosswalk from his office building to the hospital to help him cut down on transit time. After the cancer, I found that you just take a number and wait. If you go in at 6AM for tests, then have a 10 AM appointment with the general oncologist, then more tests, you WILL be late for your 2:00 with your other doctor. But as in every medical area, emergencies come first. Almost any specialty can have emergencies. I was seeing a plastic surgeon (they were considering having a specialty proceedure to close my lost surgical incision, as it had problems) and they came out to tell us that there would be a 3 hour delay for an emergency. One woman asked exactly HOW does one have emergency plastic surgery? Does their face suddenly slip down ther neckline? Turns out there was a kid that had been “skinned” in a car wreck, the scalp and facial skin just peeled off. They needed a plastics guy to do the major reconstruction and replacement of the tissue… It IS a lot easier to wait when you’re kept informed. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-waited-to-see-the-doctor-today-for-a-fucking-hour-and-a-half/184415/44 "2003-06-28T08:26:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > [B—Dr. Goofus and Dr. Gallant! \*\* How many women in this world have a thorough knowledge of both the golden age of movies _and_ Highlights Magazine? You never cease to amaze me, Eve. ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-waited-to-see-the-doctor-today-for-a-fucking-hour-and-a-half/184415/45 "2003-06-28T17:03:14Z")
I’m glad you mentioned the emergency plastic surgery thing. My friend was recently scheduled for breast reduction surgery and she emailed me to let me know that it had been pushed back due to an “emergency.” I scratched my head for awhile on that one, trying to imagine what would constitute a plastic surgery “emergency.” Now I know. Thanks! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Purple\_Scottie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a698b9/32.png) [@Purple\_Scottie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purple_Scottie)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-waited-to-see-the-doctor-today-for-a-fucking-hour-and-a-half/184415/46 "2003-06-28T17:25:00Z")
The worst clinic I had to go to this past year would start scheduling patients for 8 a.m. appointments. At 8, the clinic staff consisted of the nurses and me, the often clueless M3. The residents would get there around 9-9:30 because they had a conference at 8. The attendings would get there sometime between 9 and 10. I think the logic behind this was that I could have seen all the patients already in the rooms (8 patients!) and have H&Ps or notes done on them and that the residents could start checking them out quickly. Great in theory, but seemed somewhat less than ideal in practice. The other thing about that clinic and the clinics in general is that there is an extremely high (for some clinics greater than 50%) no show rate so while 40 patients might be scheduled probably only 20 would show up. On other days, patients would actually show up and it would be chaos. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-waited-to-see-the-doctor-today-for-a-fucking-hour-and-a-half/184415.md?page=2)