Would you donate $$$ to your doctor?

[MikeD]

Saw this today at my wife's OB/Gyn, caught me off guard. What do you think?

There was a sign posted by the receptionist that stated something to the effect of:

"Due to the high cost of medical malpractice suits and the effect they have on our costs, we are asking patients to donate $5 today during their office visit."

My initital reaction was "hell no...". These are doctors we're talking about; they must be loaded with $$$ as it is. But the longer we sat in the waiting room the more I thought about it. Here is a doctor who has successfully guided our family through 2 pregnancies, and we're working on a third. My wife loves the practice and maintains both a high degree of trust and confidence in them.

Maybe their costs are skyrocketing. And, after all, $5 is a pretty small chunk of change to give a guy who has helped me get the two biggest gifts of my life.

Would you donate the money? Or should the practice suck it up and deal with it?

[Yossarian]

depends on which doc...family, no, chiro, yes

[ramazank2]

depends on which doc...family, no, chiro, yes
Chiro? they are not even real doctors!

[ShawnLee]

Barring a weird circumstance, I'd say no, but then you never know, so I put "ehh."

[neutral]

I think it's tacky and awkward. If you don't, will they notice and start giving people different care, e.g., waiting longer, not be willing to schedule appointments that work around their schedule. Reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where George tipped but no one behind the counter saw him, so he took it out & waited till someone was watching and put it back in the tip jar. If you do, make sure they see you.

[oblongmelon]

Absolutely not! I just wrote a big rant, hit "post" and got a wierd message saying I wasn't logged in..then my response was lost..sh*t. Let's just say it was brilliant, and it gave about 100 reasons why you should NOT donate to doctors..(and without going into it again-basically it's because, we aren't the ones being difficult patients..they are the ones making the errors, with their mis-diagnosing of patients, over medicating, medicating in error, demanding over priced tests on new expensive machines, and support of drug companies that raise the price of their medications 500 % above cost. Why should WE absorb the cost of their negligence? Perhaps they should slow down, stop overbooking patients in their offices, and listen to what we tell them when we go in for a bad headache-instead of sending us for MRI's, P.e.t. Scans, CT scans and Xrays of our heads-maybe they should just hand us an aspirin and send us home with a headache. Boy do I miss the old days..

[cruelpupet]

It is definately tacky and awkward!

However, docotrs aren't as rich as you think. The insurance is very expensive and most are carrying 100k+ in loans for tuition.

[oblongmelon]

It is definately tacky and awkward!

However, docotrs aren't as rich as you think. The insurance is very expensive and most are carrying 100k+ in loans for tuition.

Isn't everyone's insurance expensive anymore? It's not only Doctors that have so many educational loans either..don't forget..they CHOOSE to be doctors-the reap the benefits once they get established..all the perks they get-including professional courtesies from other Doctors, Dentists,Pharmaceutical companies,medical supply companies, etc. For every dollar they pay in insurance, they probably get that back in "freebies" alone..I've never seen a doctor living in a shack and driving a 15 year old car-when I say doctor-I Mean established, not someone fresh out of residency..hey, when you are a specialty physician, charging enormous amounts for your services (and everything connected with your services) you have no right to bitch about paying high insurance premiums. Doctors set the standards for their own expenses if you ask me. I have no sympathy for them. I have seen wayyyyy too much bulls*t in the medical field for me to EVER ever feel sorry for a doctor with high insurance bills..Unless you've actually worked in the field, and have been exposed to some of the things that go on behind the scenes -you really don't have a clue WHY these costs are skyrocketing.

[hapoo]

I'd donate money to get some laws passed to stop all the freakin' lawsuits. America is lawsuit happy. Something goes wrong and the first thought that comes to mind is that you'll be loaded for life after the lawsuit.

[welfareloser]

*sigh* the cost isn't driven by the lawsuits. but whatever. the AMA is a tool.

[mcs328]

I feel for some doctors...I believe that some really are hurting because of medical malpractice insurance.

[molecularfire]

I wouldn't donate money to my doctor... of course I don't have a doctor but if I did, I wouldn't donate money to them. Sounds really tacky to me.

[Houdini]

Sounds kinda tacky to me as well. But then again, OB/GYN is usually the highest on the malpractice insurance list, as they get sued 17 years later when the kid doesn't get into Harvard. Still, if someone wants to pay more, more power to them. It's not going to hurt anything. And, contrary to popular belief, all docs do not make mucho $$.

[nickel]

I feel for some doctors...I believe that some really are hurting because of medical malpractice insurance.
another good reason to.... be a dentist.


as far as the original topic: i agree with Houdini, it sounds real tacky and nothing i have ever seen or heard of. gotta say no, i wouldn't be adding an extra $5 to my tab for the doc.

[riskykougra]

My doctor is young and hot...so if he were willing to dance for it I might be tempted to slip a couple of crisp ones into his boxers....:heh:

[Merlin]

I wouldn't do it. The doctor's office can set their own prices. So if they are doing it at a level that does not properly cover their costs that is their own damn fault. Yes, doctors tend to want to set their prices at what insurance will cover but if that does not get the job done then they need to adjust their prices. Any doctor who thinks tipping will bridge the gap really has no business sense at all.

[faither]

To the guy who sqweegied my window coming out of the Holland Tunnel, probably.

To a doctor, no.

And, boy, how low class!

[welfareloser]

:stupid:s who called it tasteless. i'm willing to give the doc the benefit of the doubt; maybe s/he's just taken so much crap from so many people about "damn rich doctor, why does this cost so much, you greedy turd?" i'd probably snap, too.

but, yeah... ob/gyns work 7-9 months of the year just to pay their maplractice insurance.

average family practice doc makes like $130,000 a year... and take into account that this salary starts no sooner than 7 years after finishing undergrad... and you spend the first 10 years of that paying off your average $100,000 in loans and all the interest that comes with it (including the interest you racked up during your 3-8 years of internship/residency/fellowship, where you made $40,000 a year and probably didn't pay off any of the loans)... so basically, you're a minimum of 38 years old before you can start saving for retirement, kids' college, probably a fat wad of credit card debt...

anyway. yeah. don't assume docs are rich.

nickel is so right... dentistry is a MUCH sweeter job, especially when you factor in the average workweek of 35 hours ;)

[jstreet]

My doctor is young and hot...so if he were willing to dance for it I might be tempted to slip a couple of crisp ones into his boxers....:heh::stupid:

When I got insurance after college and needed a PCP, I wanted to make sure whatever doctor I chose was gay (it's just easier to talk to gay doctors) and then I found an office FULL of hot gay doctors. They could run a strip show on the side and make billions. I don't even read in the waiting room - I stare and drool a bit. I have no shame.

[cheapie]

:heh:


i'm sorry ben. when i tried to read your response this is what i got:

http://gallery.elvado.de/albums/structure/USER-RELATED/insults/gay/gaypost.jpg

[jstreet]

:heh:


i'm sorry ben. when i tried to read your response this is what i got:

http://gallery.elvado.de/albums/structure/USER-RELATED/insults/gay/gaypost.jpgIt's OK. I am used to inadequacy ;)

[ialsohaveadream]

:stupid:

When I got insurance after college and needed a PCP, I wanted to make sure whatever doctor I chose was gay (it's just easier to talk to gay doctors) and then I found an office FULL of hot gay doctors. They could run a strip show on the side and make billions. I don't even read in the waiting room - I stare and drool a bit. I have no shame.
:heh: I chose my doctor because he had a hot receptionist. The other one I considered had a woman in her 50s. I guess some doctors just get it, and some don't. :)

[cheapie]

btw ben...not cracking on you. i was just highly amused by your post.

[welfareloser]

my first ob/gyn was so smokin hot... talk about uncomfortable... now i just stick to womenfolk. much easier. til the time my nice lady doc sent me to the smokin hot echocardiogram technician... :drool: 45 minutes of getting my chest fondled by a super-hottie, and my insurance paid for the whooooole thing! wheeeee!

[cheapie]

heck. just give me a call and you won't even have to bill your insurance. ;)

[MikeD]

heck. just give me a call and you won't even have to bill your insurance. ;)

And I'll offer my services as the blood pressure / temperature / male nurse guy. :hihi:

BTW, glad to see so many of you agreed with me on the poll question. ;)

[guiseppewv]

I'd donate money to get some laws passed to stop all the freakin' lawsuits. America is lawsuit happy. Something goes wrong and the first thought that comes to mind is that you'll be loaded for life after the lawsuit.

I would also donate to get some tort reform. The number of lawsuits is out of hand. I would not donate to a doctor. They should be figuring that expense into their fees. :shrug:


*sigh* the cost isn't driven by the lawsuits. but whatever. the AMA is a tool.

Hapoo didn't say it was he was saying what he would donate for. :shrug: Same as someone saying that they would donate to some worker at the Holland tunnel. :)

[ramazank2]

I would donate based on what kind of car they drive....

[InfiniteNothing]

That's clever.

[welfareloser]

I would also donate to get some tort reform. The number of lawsuits is out of hand. I would not donate to a doctor. They should be figuring that expense into their fees. :shrug:



Hapoo didn't say it was he was saying what he would donate for. :shrug:

i know. but the doc's sign did. the AMA would do better to go bark up the insurance PACs' butts than the trial lawyers'. thassall i'm a'sayin.

[guiseppewv]

i know. but the doc's sign did. the AMA would do better to go bark up the insurance PACs' butts than the trial lawyers'. thassall i'm a'sayin.

Gotcha, since you didn't quote the original post, it seemed like you were responding to Hapoo. No problem, I understand what you were getting at.

[Houdini]

:stupid:s who called it tasteless. i'm willing to give the doc the benefit of the doubt; maybe s/he's just taken so much crap from so many people about "damn rich doctor, why does this cost so much, you greedy turd?" i'd probably snap, too.

but, yeah... ob/gyns work 7-9 months of the year just to pay their maplractice insurance.

average family practice doc makes like $130,000 a year... and take into account that this salary starts no sooner than 7 years after finishing undergrad... and you spend the first 10 years of that paying off your average $100,000 in loans and all the interest that comes with it (including the interest you racked up during your 3-8 years of internship/residency/fellowship, where you made $40,000 a year and probably didn't pay off any of the loans)... so basically, you're a minimum of 38 years old before you can start saving for retirement, kids' college, probably a fat wad of credit card debt...

anyway. yeah. don't assume docs are rich.

nickel is so right... dentistry is a MUCH sweeter job, especially when you factor in the average workweek of 35 hours ;)

:stupid:

And if you go to a private med school, etc., you may very well end up with $250k + in loans that accrue interest during school and residency, moreso if you live in an area where you need a car and have to buy one with your ~40k salary. And ridiculous ~80 work hours/week. Sure, most docs make $100k +, but subtract taxes (highest bracket usually), then malpractice insurance (which is incredible for some fields,) loan payments, a house, and a car, and, well, the doc isn't so rich.

So, for many, it's like making $60k and having a quarter mil or 300k after interest to pay off. And you need a place to live, right? And maybe a family?

As far as fixing or raising prices to cover overhead, employees, etc., in addition to the aformentioned expenses, that can be difficult, as most patients do not pay out of pocket. Most go through insurance companies or medicare/caid. Then the docs get whatever the insurance company thinks that the doc should get based on whatever stats they come up with. So the buck gets passed onto the patient in higher premiums or the government resulting in higher taxes. It can be a messy situation, and like WL said, picture starting your real $$ career at age 30+ with a #$#$load of loans to pay, building a practice, etc. The field of medicine is unique in this respect, and there is a big misconception that all docs are loaded.

Sure, some make $1,000,000 /year. Some make $300k. The vast majority make a lot less, though some make more in either underserved areas or areas where everything is more expensive, like the Northeast or the West Coast. Then factor in the services docs do for free, and the volunteer time most docs put into community service or public hospital systems where you can bill but aren't necessarily going to get paid, and you begin to realize that the "rich doctor" is slowly becoming a thing of the past.

[Cubsfan]

Just out of curiosity, what kind of a number are we looking at for the insurance? I'm not even sure what ballpark we're in. Closer to $2k/year, or $50k/year?

[Houdini]

I would donate based on what kind of car they drive....

Heh...I know a lot of docs who do drive nice cars that are really beyond their means, just so they can have something nice to reward themselves for going to school 20+ years and working in low paying residencies for 3-5+ years. So I wouldn't go for that. For instance, I'm a resident, but I was so tired of driving crappy cars that I was always fixing during med school, etc., that when I graduated med school a coupla years ago, I bought a 325i. Good price, beautiful loaded car ('03), but with insurance in NOLA + car payments, I am sacrificing a lot. :shrug:

[jstreet]

Just out of curiosity, what kind of a number are we looking at for the insurance? I'm not even sure what ballpark we're in. Closer to $2k/year, or $50k/year?This is just the first match on google, no idea if it corroborates to reality:


The Medical Liability Monitor’s (MLM) 2002 medical malpractice rate survey indicates that the average cost of malpractice insurance for internists nationally rose by 24% from July 1, 2001 to July 1, 2002. In 2000-01 rates rose 10. 1%. General surgeons’ rates increased an average 25% in 2002 and 10. 3% in 2001. The average increase in rates for obstetricians/gynecologists climbed 9. 2% in 2001 and 19. 6% in 2002.

For 19 of the states that cap noneconomic damages, the MLM found that in 2002 the average premium for internists ranged from $ 4,023 to $ 10,098, for general surgeons, $ 10,896 to $ 35,915, and for obstetricians/gynecologists $ 17,786 to $ 55,084. http://www.cga.ct.gov/2003/olrdata/ins/rpt/2003-R-0090.htm

[Houdini]

This is just the first match on google, no idea if it corroborates to reality:

http://www.cga.ct.gov/2003/olrdata/ins/rpt/2003-R-0090.htm

Eek. That's scary. And the numbers are from 2002. It's been 4 years since then, and they've only gone up in most areas. Docs were leaving in droves from MS a year or two ago until a tort reform bill was passed. Malpractice insurers either wouldn't insure docs or were charging ridiculous premiums - sometimes >50% of their income, and we're talking about family docs in small towns. So they left the state, leaving some areas without medical care within 50-100 miles. That sucks.

I know some studies have shown little correlation b/w tort reform and malpractice insurance, but in some cases, it is a big problem. LA has a nice cap, and our premiums are lower than most states in the region. :shrug:

[ialsohaveadream]

For 19 of the states that cap noneconomic damages, the MLM found that in 2002 the average premium for internists ranged from $ 4,023 to $ 10,098, for general surgeons, $ 10,896 to $ 35,915, and for obstetricians/gynecologists $ 17,786 to $ 55,084.
$55k for an annual insurance premium!? That's insane.

Also, I was reading Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink, and it mentioned that the doctors most often sued for malpractice aren't the worst doctors...they're the doctors with the worst bedside manner. In fact, he even spoke to some malpractice attorneys. They've told clients that they determined the mistake was a primary physician's fault, but the patients say, "I'm not suing him, he's a great doctor. That surgeon was a jerk!"

Tort reform, by the way, can't fix the fact that some people choose to sue you because you didn't pay them enough attention.

[welfareloser]

$55k for an annual insurance premium!? That's insane.

Also, I was reading Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink, and it mentioned that the doctors most often sued for malpractice aren't the worst doctors...they're the doctors with the worst bedside manner. In fact, he even spoke to some malpractice attorneys. They've told clients that they determined the mistake was a primary physician's fault, but the patients say, "I'm not suing him, he's a great doctor. That surgeon was a jerk!"

Tort reform, by the way, can't fix the fact that some people choose to sue you because you didn't pay them enough attention.

heh. yeah, i've read that, too. the health system around here has instituted a policy called "sorry works!" when you f*** up, let the patient know exactly what happened immediately, and apologize... it reduced the amount of suing by an insane percentage.

[hapoo]

ok, its killing me, what do you do welfare? I know theres a doctor somewhere, you or your husband or something but i'm so confused.

[welfareloser]

ok, its killing me, what do you do welfare?

i look good on my husband's arm :P








(my husband and all my close friends are md/phd's... i'm a stay-at-home mom. more specifically, i dropped out of dental school, had a bunch of kids, and wrote a novel or three. my husband did research in genomics, is going into radiology, and has a possible future interest in molecular imaging. he and all of our buds are getting the MD behind their names this sunday. yay! speaking of which... i need to go buy a keg...)

[hapoo]

How strange. My bro is an MD in radiology, his wife went through dental school and just had a couple kids. :hmm: do i know you :eek:

on a side note, i'm really really looking at dental school. It seems like there are so many benifits.

[jstreet]

Also, I was reading Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink, and it mentioned that the doctors most often sued for malpractice aren't the worst doctors...they're the doctors with the worst bedside manner. In fact, he even spoke to some malpractice attorneys. They've told clients that they determined the mistake was a primary physician's fault, but the patients say, "I'm not suing him, he's a great doctor. That surgeon was a jerk!"I believe it. I could've died from misdiagnosed appendicitis (my boyfriend came even closer - weird coincidence) but my parents didn't sue because the doc was nice. Also because they didn't want to look bad, lol. Everyone talks in Rhode Island, and they quickly would've been known as the people who sued the nice doctor in the small town. I'm sure they would have sued if I did die, of course. Thank goodness for doctor number two, who was at least willing to go past "It's gastritis!" and move to "We don't know what it is son, but we're going to cut you open. Is that OK?"

[welfareloser]

How strange. My bro is an MD in radiology, his wife went through dental school and just had a couple kids. :hmm: do i know you :eek:

on a side note, i'm really really looking at dental school. It seems like there are so many benifits.

omg, dude, do it. there isn't a downside. throw in the fact that dental schools sort of cycle in their funding... the govt funded the crap out of it such that there were dentists driving busses in the 70s, then cut the funding a ton... now, as the baby boomer dentists retire, and demand for dentistry increases, and there's a shortage of dentists that have graduated over the last 10+ years... you're golden. no residency, no hmo crap... 4 years, straight into practice.

[jstreet]

on a side note, i'm really really looking at dental school. It seems like there are so many benifits.When your patient asks to be knocked out during his wisdom teeth surgery, make sure that he is knocked out and not just so drugged up he's simply unable to speak. The crying should be a good warning sign. :mad2: :mad2: :mad2:

Maybe the lesson learned here is don't be treated for anything in Rhode Island. :heh:

[hapoo]

When your patient asks to be knocked out during his wisdom teeth surgery, make sure that he is knocked out and not just so drugged up he's simply unable to speak. The crying should be a good warning sign. :mad2: :mad2: :mad2:

Maybe the lesson learned here is don't be treated for anything in Rhode Island. :heh:

no worries ben, i'll take a dose of it first, you know, to make sure it works

[molecularfire]

$55k for an annual insurance premium!? That's insane.

Also, I was reading Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink, and it mentioned that the doctors most often sued for malpractice aren't the worst doctors...they're the doctors with the worst bedside manner. In fact, he even spoke to some malpractice attorneys. They've told clients that they determined the mistake was a primary physician's fault, but the patients say, "I'm not suing him, he's a great doctor. That surgeon was a jerk!"

Tort reform, by the way, can't fix the fact that some people choose to sue you because you didn't pay them enough attention.
That's the reason why I don't like our lawsuit system for handling medical malpractice. Harvard (someone correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure it was Harvard) where they went through a bunch of charts and looked at when mistakes and malpractices happened and where lawsuits were filed and found that with the vast majority of the lawsuits fuled, there wasn't a medical mistake and the vast majority of the medical mistakes didn't result in lawsuits. Most lawsuits resulted from bad outcomes (i.e. what was done was appropriate but bad things happened because when it comes down to it, medicine has it's limits on what we know currently) and poor bedside manner. Sounds like this book (haven't read it) came out of that study.

I actually support a system where we have people who know about medicine (doctors and non-doctors) who review bad outcomes and decide 1) if a mistake was even made 2) if a mistake was made how reasonable a mistake was it and 3) if any penalty (i.e. fines, suspension of license, permanent removal of license, or criminal charges) should be implemented. 4) what kind of compensation the victim should receive. I don't even think malpractice insurance should even exist. JMO.

[Houdini]

heh. yeah, i've read that, too. the health system around here has instituted a policy called "sorry works!" when you f*** up, let the patient know exactly what happened immediately, and apologize... it reduced the amount of suing by an insane percentage.

Yep. That's true. And as above, for anyone who's gone through med school, surgeons tend to be jerks. It's mostly because of the imposed attitude and false arrogance/confidence that the programs inspire, but the good surgeons are fast and nice. The bad ones sweat into the sterile field, yell at everyone, throw things around the room, and the patients have lots of complications.

But yeah, if things go wrong, even if you don't f*** up, it's best to explain exactly what happened, what you're going to do about it, explain that it was a known complication, and apologize for any discomfort the patient felt/is feeling. Then you go out of your way to fix the problem. I remember doing a pleural aspiration. I did it perfectly, but only got blood. I explained exactly what happened, told the guy we would monitor him, told him to tell us if he had trouble breathing, etc., and followed through with that. The guy was fine and happy. No lawsuit. It's the guys who see patients as annoying projects that get sued. Sure, every doc does that sometimes, but you try to be as cordial as you can. I know a guy, a senior and chief surgery resident, who had trouble removing a gallbladder laproscopically, so he converted to open. He still had a lot of trouble bleeding, etc. He couldn't figure out why, and he was busy yelling at me and everyone else in the room. Turned out he was butchering a kidney. Missed the GB completely. A big oops. And they guy had renal failure to begin with. He never followed up to see the patient. He had one of his junior residents try to get me to sign an "emergency consent" as a med student. I told him to go to hell. Emergency consents are generally used when you find something, often life threatening, during a procedure, the patient is unconscious, etc., and several docs and witnesses have to sign off on it. Talk about corrupt.

H <---glad malpractice insurance is relatively cheap for psychiatrists, as most get sued for suicides (which hardly ever win, as nobody can predict accurately if someone will do something like that. We're not psychic) and side-effects of meds that the patients about which the patients were not warned.

[booger73]

Saw this today at my wife's OB/Gyn, caught me off guard. What do you think?

There was a sign posted by the receptionist that stated something to the effect of:

"Due to the high cost of medical malpractice suits and the effect they have on our costs, we are asking patients to donate $5 today during their office visit."

Maybe their costs are skyrocketing. And, after all, $5 is a pretty small chunk of change to give a guy who has helped me get the two biggest gifts of my life.

Would you donate the money? Or should the practice suck it up and deal with it?

Just to put that in perspective a little (and I kindof understand where some of it comes from), but I have been told many-a-times, that we currently make, about.. $7/pt seen right now.. after overhead and all that.. actually, a few other partners/groups lose money by seeing patients in the office and would rather not... so.. $5 could almost be 100% more than profit :) heh

although.. I still would never expect anyone to donate $5 to our practice..

[hapoo]

Just to put that in perspective a little (and I kindof understand where some of it comes from), but I have been told many-a-times, that we currently make, about.. $7/pt seen right now.. after overhead and all that.. actually, a few other partners/groups lose money by seeing patients in the office and would rather not... so.. $5 could almost be 100% more than profit :) heh

although.. I still would never expect anyone to donate $5 to our practice..


does that overhead include the doctors income?

[booger73]

Not sure, I'd have to ask.. but I actually don't think so..

Outpatient billing is actually pretty crappy compared to inpatient (hospital billing).. ever wonder why doctor's 'office' is so crowded? or why your doctor sometime has to see 20-30+ patients a half day? it's because the 'profit margin' from those visits are so smaller compared to inpatient (hospital) visits or the actual surgeries..

in other words, a fp/im/gp has to see tons more patients than one ortho/surgeon/specialist could make billing either a procedure, surgery, etc..

[molecularfire]

I would donate based on what kind of car they drive....
:woohoo: I drive a beat-up old corolla. Pay up. :thumbup:

[welfareloser]

Yep. That's true. And as above, for anyone who's gone through med school, surgeons tend to be jerks. It's mostly because of the imposed attitude and false arrogance/confidence that the programs inspire, but the good surgeons are fast and nice. The bad ones sweat into the sterile field, yell at everyone, throw things around the room, and the patients have lots of complications..

it's amazing how that old stereotype of butthead elitist narcissist surgeons is still really freakin true in so many cases. my buddy doctorcornholio just walked out of his last rotation (2 weeks of plastic surgery) at 10 AM on day 2 because the surgeon was such a turd... went straight to the med scholar's office, and told the secretary to schedule his butt for 2 more weeks of radiology instead. apparently, the guy refused to shake his hand when doctorcornholio introduced himself, for starters. this is after showing up an hour late. then the guy stalked off without a word, and left him there in the doc's lounge. he re-appeared an hour later in scrubs, yelling "i was in surgery. where were YOU?" then he told him to read some stuff and report on it after lunch. upon delivering his report, doctorcornholio got a half-hour ass-chewing about mispronouncing a word (which he later went home, looked up, and found he was pronouncing correctly anyway.) then there was a repeat of the guy disappearing without a word, and reappearing with a "where were you?" an hour later. the final straw was the next morning when the guy decided to scream at him in front of a patient about some wierd nitpicky issue about where something was written in a chart...

and of course, over the years i've heard dozens of other stories about what dicks surgeons can be, but that guy takes the cake... other ppl who have had to work with this guy were forced to sing "the star spangled banner" throughout surgery and other nonsense...

[nickel]

it's amazing how that old stereotype of butthead elitist narcissist surgeons is still really freakin true in so many cases. my buddy doctorcornholio just walked out of his last rotation (2 weeks of plastic surgery) at 10 AM on day 2 because the surgeon was such a turd... went straight to the med scholar's office, and told the secretary to schedule his butt for 2 more weeks of radiology instead. apparently, the guy refused to shake his hand when doctorcornholio introduced himself, for starters. this is after showing up an hour late. then the guy stalked off without a word, and left him there in the doc's lounge. he re-appeared an hour later in scrubs, yelling "i was in surgery. where were YOU?" then he told him to read some stuff and report on it after lunch. upon delivering his report, doctorcornholio got a half-hour ass-chewing about mispronouncing a word (which he later went home, looked up, and found he was pronouncing correctly anyway.) then there was a repeat of the guy disappearing without a word, and reappearing with a "where were you?" an hour later. the final straw was the next morning when the guy decided to scream at him in front of a patient about some wierd nitpicky issue about where something was written in a chart...

and of course, over the years i've heard dozens of other stories about what dicks surgeons can be, but that guy takes the cake... other ppl who have had to work with this guy were forced to sing "the star spangled banner" throughout surgery and other nonsense...
wow, what an a##hole. :|

[guiseppewv]

[QUOTE=welfareloser]<snip>[QUOTE]

FWIW: I have a friend who is finishing up her fellowship in plastic surgery and she is one of the nicest people that I have ever known. She is the type of surgeon that you want as your doc. She goes on missions around the world to help out others. There is another plastic surgeon that she works with who sounds like the younger version of the doc you speak of. What an a-hole.

[Houdini]

[QUOTE=welfareloser]<snip>[QUOTE]

FWIW: I have a friend who is finishing up her fellowship in plastic surgery and she is one of the nicest people that I have ever known. She is the type of surgeon that you want as your doc. She goes on missions around the world to help out others. There is another plastic surgeon that she works with who sounds like the younger version of the doc you speak of. What an a-hole.

Like I said. The nice ones (and fast ones) are good. THe asshats who yell and throw things and sweat into the field and harass residents and med students to the point that they actually start crying in the OR are typically bad, with more complications, etc. I've seen a guy do a kidney transplant in ~20 minutes. He's one of the nicest and most competent surgeons I've known. I'd let him work on me any day.

[ramazank2]

:woohoo: I drive a beat-up old corolla. Pay up. :thumbup:

Too bad you're not my doctor.....