The Callous Blog

I've said before that a lot of my comics are based on personal experiences.  Sad to say, the above strips are no exception.  Sure, I've put some humor into it and a lot of patients are gracious enough to not make a big deal out of it but I have encountered some who long for that one-on-one with their doctor.

I was still a medical student at the time when I encountered a similar situation.  We were on rounds with a notoriously impersonal physician who walks into a patient's room, discusses his or her case to us, then walks out the door.  Most of the time the patients don't really mind, but there are times when one of them (or a relative) walks up to me and asks for another attending physician... one who would talk to them.

Patients seek help because they feel something is wrong with them.  They want to know what's up and what the plan is.  Doctors, of course, are there to figure things out and formulate a strategy to diagnose and/or remedy the problem, whatever the case may be.  And there is a legal binding that absolutely stipulates that patients should know what the plan is before it is executed.  But there is no rule that says that a doctor must be a caring, whispering, and "grandfatherly" sage, but most patients do appreciate that extra mile.

Another point this comic brings up is the sheer weight of the words that come out of a physician's mouth.  Here, Doctors Rianne Nicah and Aimee N. Queens are candidly talking about a TV show but to a patient, these words seem to mean a whole lot more!  Once that doctor-patient relationship is established, a physician should keep in mind what responsibility that entails.