The Doctor Appointment: Is becoming a doctor easy?

I had to take my brother to the doctor today for his stubborn cough, sore throat, and runny nose. So, of course, like many, I called the doctor’s office to schedule an appointment. And boy were we lucky. They had one left for today at 3:15 pm. I jumped on it. But then after I hung up, I realized I didn’t ask who the doctor was. We just prayed it wasn’t the one we disliked.

We get to the doctor’s office and check-in. The receptionist informs us that we will be seeing a nurse practitioner. I don’t know if it is just me, but it seems like there are less actual doctors with the title doctor and more nurse practitioners. But I don’t discriminate, if the nurse practitioner can help us out, I don’t mind at all. But the name we were told, I had never heard before. So again, we find ourselves praying that she is good and not like the one doctor we disliked.

A nurse calls us and takes us into the front room to do the basic vitals check. You know the spiel. She checks your weight, your temperature, and your blood pressure before asking what brings you in today. You literally get asked that question by every single person you interact with at the doctor’s office. First the receptionist, then the nurse, and then the doctor. It makes me wonder what they are really writing down in that chart, that every single one has to repeat the question.

Anyways, the nurse notes the weight, and then asks my brother if he had a fever. To which he replies no. And the nurses response shocked me. She muttered under her breath that she was not in the mood and wasn’t going to bother taking his temperature because she didn’t feel like it. What?! I know they are human, and they might be having one of those days. But, you chose to go into this industry. You can’t just decide not to check something just because you don’t feel like it. What if the patient didn’t check their own temperature? They could have a fever without knowing. Even though, I think one would know if they had a fever. But still.

We didn’t say much about it. Because it didn’t affect us as much since we knew he didn’t have a fever. So, the nurse brings us into a room, where she says what they all say, the doctor will be with you shortly. And we all know that shortly means another 15-20 minutes.

Knock. Knock. And in walks the nurse practitioner. Doesn’t say hi. Doesn’t tell us her name. She just walks right in past us and straight for the stool in front of the computer. Well, this is going off to a great start. She starts messing around with the computer and doesn’t say a word during this entire process. Did she not see us?

After what felt like forever. It took longer than it should considering she was finger peck typing. She turned towards my brother and asked what brought him in today. As my brother is describing what he has, she continues clicking and typing on the computer. Then after a few minutes, she turns back to him and repeats the question. You have cough? Yes. You have runny nose? Yes. You don’t have a sore throat? What, I do. He literally told her over and over again that he did have a sore throat. Where was this doctor’s mind? Was she not listening to us?

She finally decides to get up and check him. She grabs the thing they check your ears with and walks over to his left side. Squinting and moving her head around trying to see in his ears. I don’t know if she actually looked into his ear or just faked it. She then proceeds to repeat the process on his other ear. But instead of doing the same thing, she yanks on his ear and shoves that instrument into his ear. I saw my brother wince from the pain. What are you doing woman? Are your trying to cause more problems? Don’t ruin his hearing.

If you have been to the doctor, you know they use the same tool to look inside your mouth, but before they stick it in your mouth they discard the disposable piece they just stuck in your ear, right? Well, this woman didn’t get the protocol. She walked over to the small counter, tripped over her stool in the process, grabbed a tongue dispenser, and used that instrument still with the piece she stuck in his ear on it and put it in his mouth. Gross! What was wrong with her? Where did she get her degree?

Oh, and that is not all. It got worse. After she, I think, pretended to look in his mouth. She proceeded to walk over to the regular trashcan, instead of the biohazard one, and disposed of the tongue dispenser and the piece on the instrument in the regular trash. Regular! I cringed. Being a science major, I know that certain items go in the biohazard bags, and those definitely were supposed to be disposed in the biohazardous waste. Now that I was thinking about it, the four or five disposable tips from that instrument that were one the ground didn’t get there by accident, she must have disposed of them that way. Who made her a doctor?

Oh, and then you will not believe what she did next. She went to go check his breathing and placed her stethoscope on various places on his back and chest. She asked him to take a deep breath, but as she instructed him to do so, she already lifted the stethoscope off him. What was she listening to? The air? My brother even told me that at one point she placed it over his belt and listened there. My mind was blown. I probably could have diagnosed my brother better than her.

Then she proceeds to do one last check. She places her hands on his neck, and after she already had her hands on his neck, she asks if it is okay for her to touch him. Um. I think it is too late to ask that considering your hands are already on him.

The crazy doesn’t end there. She takes her seat back on that stool of hers and gets back on the computer. She then was like I am going to give you an antibiotic, a medicine for your cough, a medicine for your sore throat, and a medicine for your running nose. Why does he need one medicine for each symptom? Aren’t there prescriptions that help with multiple symptoms? I think she was trying to get the most money out of us as she could. Lady! This is America, not your home country. What was going on here? Never again will we go back to see her.