What Your Doctors Want To Say To Some Of Their Patients

Posted on February 15, 2009
Filed Under Healthy Living | Leave a Comment

Readerâ€™s Digest recently asked two dozen doctors to discuss whatâ€™s on their minds. The result: a plethora of complaints, opinions and observations about patients and medicine.

Here is a couple of their thoughts:

I am extremely exhausted of being your mother. Every time I see you, I have to say the obligatory, You need to lose some weight. But you swear you donâ€™t eat anything or the weight just doesnâ€™t come off, and the subject is dropped. Then you come in here complaining about your knees hurting, your back is killing you, your feet ache and you canâ€™t breathe when you walk up half a flight of stairs. So Iâ€™m supposed to hold your hand and talk you into backing away from that box of Twinkies. Oh, do I get tired of repeating the stuff most patients just donâ€™t listen to.
Cardiologist, Brooklyn, N.Y.

A lot of times itâ€™s easier for a doctor to write a script for a medicine than to explain why the patient doesnâ€™t need it.
Cardiologist, Bangor, Me.

Twenty years ago, when I started my practice, my ear, nose and throat surgeries financially supported my facial plastic surgery practice. Today, my cosmetic practice is the only thing that allows me to continue to do ear, nose and throat work, which barely cover my overhead.
Ear, nose, throat and facial plastic surgeon, Dallas/Fort Worth

Don’t do Friday afternoon procedures. The day after surgery is when most problems happen. If the next day is Saturday, youâ€™re flying by yourself without a safety net, because the units are understaffed and E.R.â€™s are cumbersome because doctorsâ€™ offices are closed.
Heart surgeon, New York City

In several hospitals, the length of the white coat is relative to the length of training. Medical students wear the shortest coats.
Pediatrician, Baltimore

Often the biggest names, the department chairmen, are not the best clinicians, because they spend most of their time being administrators. They no longer primarily focus on taking care of patients.
Heart surgeon, New York City

Most Everyone thinks all doctors know one another. But when we refer you to specialists, we often have no clue as to who those people are. Most of the time, we only know that they accept your insurance plan.
Pediatrician, Hartsdale, N.Y.

Although we donâ€™t cry in front of you, we sometimes do cry about you at home.
Pediatrician, Chicago

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