I hate my doctor, in tears as soon as I left his office

Physicians, Specialists, Clinics & Visits 👨‍⚕️👩‍⚕️
21

Hi Lisa (MAVNY),

Thank you so much for your post from the doctor’s perspective. I think we were all getting a little out of control with our doctor bashing. It is great to have a forum like this in which to vent but we also need to remember there are always two sides to this and that of course, the doctors are trying to help us (otherwise they wouldn’t be doctors) and no doubt get very frustrated when they can’t help. I don’t want to excuse the behaviour of some of the unpleasant doctor experiences we’ve been discussing in this thread but I think what you posted helps explain why/how this can happen.

I’ll use as an analogy my own experience as a police officer. Everyone’s an expert on how we should do our job. We can’t win - we’re not tough enough or we’re too tough. We’re uneducated, egomaniacal, trigger happy thugs. We pursue stolen cars which then kill innocent pedestrians and we’re at fault - not the crook who stole the car and drove like a maniac. We get abused, threatened, spat at, punched etc but we are expected to have the patience of a saint and not react. Despite being dumb thugs (see above).

Of course, as police officers we can get blase and detached, much like doctors must feel - how much sympathy can you reasonably have before it runs out? The doctor and the police officer are people, with lives and problems of their own who have bad days, are tired and overworked like everyone else. It’s often only when we’re on the other side - as a victim of crime or a doctor who gets sick - that we remember how much of an impact our attitude and presentation has on the victim or patient. I know I have had bad experiences with doctors and these are the ones that certainly stick in my mind. In reality however, most doctors have been kind, professional, thorough and understanding.

Anyway Lisa - thank you for entering the field of medicine. It is a long, hard, expensive road to get there and your expertise is never matched by what you are paid. It is a horrible irony that you’ve been knocked out for two years with no real progress and it also means there’s one less doctor out there.

Best,
Vic

22

Vic,

Thank you for your kind and wise words. Your analogy was dead on. I thank you too for being in a profession that few realize just how much of your life you put on the line each time you are on duty. I spent many a late night working in the ER when police officers were brought in with some very devastating injuries because they were trying to keep our streets safe and protect complete strangers.

All the best,
lisa

23

Hi Lisa,

Oh the war stories I’m sure you could tell from night shift in the ER! And the doctors and nurses cop the same level of crazy, drunken, threatening behaviour as the police, only you don’t have a baton, OC spray or hand cuffs to defend yourselves!

For the past few years I have “fought crime” from the safety of a desk job so the worst injury I get now is a nasty paper cut :lol: . In the field I was lucky enough to escape nothing more serious than soft tissue injuries but I have many friends who have fared much worse. One was stabbed in the neck and narrowly escaped death or paraplegia and I know others who have died (including suicide in the gun room). Sadly, I know many many more who have had terrible and long term PTSD and associated mental health problems. I think the latter issues are similarly experienced across the emergency services as well as in the medical profession. The stresses are enormous. Sigh.

Anyway Lisa, while it SUCKS that you have MAV, and to such a debilitating degree, your input on this forum is invaluable. You have a level of insight that the rest of us don’t in terms of what is achievable and the difficulties the medical profession have in dealing with the amorphous beast that is migraine.

Thanks again,
Vic