A patient becomes the teacher

It was an ordinary day in clinic — I had gotten very behind schedule when a 90-year-old gentleman, who was in for his third visit in a month related to falls, came in with his equally frail wife. We had to spend extra time discussing his placement in a nursing home for safety concerns. I hastily entered the room of a 46-year-old attractive female, who was here to meet me as her new doctor. As I went through her medical history, a pervasive theme emerged, which was anxiety and insomnia. I realized I was zoning out, going through the motions and thinking if I had a nickel for every anxious and non-sleeping perimenopausal woman I saw, I could retire — though I was less than a year into private practice. I started thinking about what I would frantically make for dinner for my family when I got home at 6:30 p.m. — lamenting that I hadn’t taken the time the night before to put something in the crock-pot. I was also wondering if it was going to rain that evening, or would I have time for a quick jog before I sat down to the hours of charting I had ahead of me. I also found myself glancing at the clock and wondering just how far behind I really was. As the obligatory medical, social and family history part of this new patient encounter was completed, and I started to move to examine her, she mentioned that one of her daughter’s favorite games was to play “doctor” with her fake stethoscope. I snapped out of my daze, asking her how old her daughter was. &#...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Physician Pediatrics Primary Care Psychiatry Source Type: blogs