After spending my Sunday afternoon lying on the couch in pain, I finally gave in – maybe a trip to the hospital was in order after all. A quick exam showed that it was likely a kidney stone, so they shot some painkillers into my IV and sent me for a CT scan. Then it was back to my exam room to wait for the doc to read the results.
A short time later the doc came in, and while it’s not a word-for-word transcript, here’s the jist of what he had to say:
“Hey, I checked out your scan, and yeah dude, it’s definitely a kidney stone. It’s like more than halfway through now, but it’s only like 2mm dude, so you’ll be able to pass it without too much trouble. I’ll write you a script for Toradol, which is what we have you on now, but in case the pain gets too bad I’m also writing a script for Percocet. That’ll take care of any really bad pain, dude”.
Now, I already find it a little disconcerting that I can go into a hospital and see doctors who are younger than me (doctors are supposed to grown-ups…you know…old people), but dude, do you need to say “dude” so much?
Did his name tag say “resident” anywhere on it? Sounds like you got a newbie doc there.
It’s good that he wasn’t being dismissive of your pain or anything like that, but doctors need to inspire a little confidence in their patients that they’re sufficiently educated and competent.
(My baby-faced cousin, after getting many suspicious questions about whether he was a med student/qualified to see patients on his own yet, ended up growing in a beard and posting his medical school diploma in an easy-to-see spot. I suspect repeating the word “dude” a lot would have hurt him in a similar fashion.)
Right, kick ass. Well, don’t want to sound like a dick or nothin’, but, ah… it says on your chart that you’re fucked up. You talk like a fag, and your shit’s all retarded. What I’d do, is just like… like… you know, like, you know what I mean, like…
I once had an ER doctor muddle through my (long, complicated) last name. When I told him that he could call me (my first name), he smiled and said that I could call him by his.
I always call patients that I work with by their title and last name, unless they insist otherwise. Even then, I feel awkward using a first name only around other patients, because I think it sounds unprofessional.
I have the same attitude about professors, even if I think they’re younger than I am. Sometimes I use “Dr. Name” even when I suspect the person on the other end of the line is only an instructor, not a professor. Sometimes they correct me… sometimes they don’t!
But when referring to them in e-mails, they’re always “Firstname Lastname.”
I do this, too. I once explained to a patient that it helped to maintain a professional relationship, because there might come a time where I would have to ask them to disrobe for me. Keeping a more formal relationship makes that a tiny bit easier. My patients all call me by my first name. Most have no idea of my last name and that is just fine.
My husband once got a letter from a new doctor thanking him for trusting him (the doctor) with his health care, signed with the doctor’s first name. We were very impressed.
I had an orthopedic surgeon who did this during one of my checkups after I shattered my knee cap. He kept calling my by my first name, but when I used his he got very offended and actually told my “I didn’t give you permission to use my first name”. After that he called me “Mr Alphaboi” through gritted teeth. The med student he was with had a look of panic on her face, but the nurse looked like she was about to bite through her lip to keep from laughing. I was 20 at the time; I think he was in his 50s.
So long as he kept that Percocet coming, I’d say he could call me whatever he wanted!
I kid. I typically call my clients Mr. or Ms so and so, unless we’ve gotten to a place in our professional relationship where we can address one another with more familiarity (I have a lot of clients that are in and out of the criminal justice system, commonly referred to as “frequent flyers” in my office.)
If a client calls me by my first name I don’t get offended or anything, but if they try any nicknames, I nip it in the bud real quick.
Just be glad that he didn’t consult his chart then announce "Well, don’t want to sound like a dick or nothin’, but, ah… it says on your chart that you’re fucked up. You talk like a fag, and your shit’s all retarded. "
I just had my test on basically this very thing. “Act like an authority figure, yet be likable as well”. As to how I’m supposed to do that, they sort of leave that up to me.
Crosses off “calling the patient ‘Dude’” from the list.
Though I do have a tendency that if a patient calls me “Dude”, I will reply to them in the same manner usually. It’s a really bad habit, but I’ve got plenty of time to break it. And usually I can try to set the tone by first calling them “sir” and “Mr. ____”, but I’ve had one or two (usually teenagers but maybe as old as my little sibling), and they’ll call me “dude” even after that, and I end up slipping and just describing what’s going on basically on their level.
