Added due to concern expressed for Rusty's feelings:
"I've seen and heard awful things that support this view.
If this post in any way gives offense, I offer my
=most= sincere and abject apologies.
Please also see my followup post."
Originally posted by Rusty ........... CCW permit and carry religiously when I visit a doctor............ like I was wrapping them around neck of the sub-lawyer form of life.
(speaking of tolerance)
I'd like to point out there are as many different personalities / abilities / capacities / etc
of docs as there are any other group .
My wife is a physician/specialist who:
worries about her patients,
is frustrated by patients who -refuse- to take care of themselves,
is sued by the same,
annoyed by drug-seekers,
exhausted by every other patient argueing the truth of some quote
from a hairdresser, brother-in-law's friend, or newspaper article which
mentions something the patient takes as "the truth and nothing but the truth"
no matter how out-of-context or biased.
is harrassed by attorneys & patients who want her
to write formal excuses for "hangnails" or such trifles,
is inundated by HMOs & attorneys sending her 20-page questionnaires
asking for detailed rationales for standard courses of treatment,
is called at 2:00 in the morning by patients who were 'too busy' earlier
to ask about how to treat indigestion,
is called to the ER (because she's the primary care physician of record)
the -next- night at 3am to examine those same patients
who were told to go to the ER immediately if the indigestion / pain gets worse
after trying detailed multiple instructions for relief
delivered in a kind and patient voice,
the patient usually having some shopping & multiple other things
just as important to take care of before bothering going to the ER.
She is legally constrained by established 'standards of treatment'
in what she can recommend for her patient's benefit.
To recommend anything else opens her to lawsuits, &
increased cost & possible loss of insurance coverage.
My wife does not enjoy & does not get paid for wasting her own or anyone's time.
She get's only loss of sleep by answering the phone when on call
or by going to the ER (including through flood warnings and ice storms).
She gains no benefit from skipping lunch
(usually just an apple, or cup of yogurt, or a PBJ sandwich)
to answer phone calls or to see a last minute patient
who may or may not really need to be seen urgently.
Two weeks of vacation a year, period; and every day of vacation
means left-over paperwork to catch up on when she gets back.
And lastly, she prides herself on doing a good job and keeping on time.
And when she finishes seeing her last patient at 5pm,
she still spends 2-3 hours on the phone and computer
dealing with reports to other docs and to patients.
Some weeks my daughter doesn't get to see her for several days at a time.
I could go on and on with trials and tribulations and problems.
There are bad docs and those need to be avoided / reported / tarred & feathered / whatever appropriate.
But patients who walk in my wife's door
with a chip on their shoulder
just make her work & life more difficult.
Having been married to her over a dozen years now,
I myself don't see the benefits being worth the trouble.
The bottom line for me is that my wife, the physician,
is an individual who deserves respect.
Rant over.
:footinmou 
