After your fifth referral, you thought the orthopedist could finally give you some answers.
The orthopedist, however, admitted that medicine was just like any other profession in which practitioners would fall back on generic advice and a few key referrals in a majority of cases. If doctors had time for more learning and in-depth patient treatment, they’d take it, but large case loads limited both the quality and duration of doctor-patient interactions. What you, the patient, would usually end up with wouldn’t be all that analytical or insightful.
“Most things follow a simple flowchart,” the orthopedist explained. “First question: Is the pain better or worse than before? If yes, we say keep it up; let’s refill the prescription. If no, we say to lay off it a bit, watch your diet, and ask if you’d like to try a different medication or a higher dose of the same one. If the patient is still unsatisfied, we say we’re going to step out and look at your notes, but then we use the restroom and come back with another appointment time, some testing, or a referral to another doctor.”
The orthopedist continued, “Think of all of the time you’ve spent traveling to see a doctor, all of the plans you have rearranged to make an appointment, all of the worry you’ve had in the days waiting for an appointment… and then ask if all you got each visit was a few minutes of doctor face time and some version of that conversation. I’ll bet that applies to at least 80% of your visits, does it not?”
You were shocked at how true that was.
Seeing the revelation on your face, the orthopedist said, “Yes, my job is a ruse most of the time.”
The orthopedist then referred you to a “better nephrologist” whose receptionist asked if you could hold 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. open on a Tuesday six months from now.
Finally it will be: “Don’t come back until you are better.”