An old girlfriend hears that I’m sick and gives a call. We dated so long ago that there is mostly nostalgia in our conversations-as if we had once studied with the same irascible scholar and get to chuckle now at his failures as well as our own.
She says: “What I want to know is: do you have a really good doctor?”
This shuts me up better than the sore throat. How the hell do I know? For me to be able to tell that a doctor was good, I’d at least have to know more about the topic at hand than the doctor herself. Ideally, I should know more and have a deeper understanding of the context too.
And I don’t. I completely forgot to go to medical school-I don’t even watch hospital shows on TV. In fact, I’m so puzzled by my complete naivete in the face of such an important question that I’m starting to wonder about what I do know about doctors. How do any of us know if any of them are any good?
One thing I could do is ask other doctors, but there’s a problem. It’s the same as mine, but worse. How do they know? And if they knew, would they tell? Did you ever hear a doctor say something negative about another doctor? Me neither.
One consolation: Medical school and licensing procedures probably weed out most of the dingbats. But you know the old joke: what do they call the guy who came in last in her class in the worst medical school in the country? You know what they call her: "Doctor".
Here’s all I’ve figured out so far: If you ask a doctor a question, you should get a complete, understandable answer. Complete means that all the nuances, probabilities and uncertainties of the situation ought to be there. If the answer isn’t complete enough, ask the next question: go deeper ‘til you’re in over your own head. Understandable means that you’d feel comfortable repeating it to someone else.
Now I place a lot of faith in this technique-probably because it’s the only one I’ve got. Well, there’s one other: you want a doctor who gives a shit. That’s partly because it’s nicer to be around someone like that and partly because you can assume that his caring will spur him on to know more and do his best.
So I’ve knitted these two lame little threads into my only line for hooking a good doctor: My doctor-Brad Fenton-is a good doctor, a healer and a smart guy. I ask him “Brad, if it were you, who would you go to?”
I realize that this is pretty pathetic: what I really want to know is: out of all the patients that Dr. X has seen, how many got better and how many croaked? How does that compare with Dr. Y? My doctor doesn't really know the answer and my old girlfriend-like me-can't even begin to guess.
So while we’re at it, let me ask you: yes, you. Do you have a really good doctor? How do you know? And if you really know, would you mind coming and checking these guys out for me?
She says: “What I want to know is: do you have a really good doctor?”
This shuts me up better than the sore throat. How the hell do I know? For me to be able to tell that a doctor was good, I’d at least have to know more about the topic at hand than the doctor herself. Ideally, I should know more and have a deeper understanding of the context too.
And I don’t. I completely forgot to go to medical school-I don’t even watch hospital shows on TV. In fact, I’m so puzzled by my complete naivete in the face of such an important question that I’m starting to wonder about what I do know about doctors. How do any of us know if any of them are any good?
One thing I could do is ask other doctors, but there’s a problem. It’s the same as mine, but worse. How do they know? And if they knew, would they tell? Did you ever hear a doctor say something negative about another doctor? Me neither.
One consolation: Medical school and licensing procedures probably weed out most of the dingbats. But you know the old joke: what do they call the guy who came in last in her class in the worst medical school in the country? You know what they call her: "Doctor".
Here’s all I’ve figured out so far: If you ask a doctor a question, you should get a complete, understandable answer. Complete means that all the nuances, probabilities and uncertainties of the situation ought to be there. If the answer isn’t complete enough, ask the next question: go deeper ‘til you’re in over your own head. Understandable means that you’d feel comfortable repeating it to someone else.
Now I place a lot of faith in this technique-probably because it’s the only one I’ve got. Well, there’s one other: you want a doctor who gives a shit. That’s partly because it’s nicer to be around someone like that and partly because you can assume that his caring will spur him on to know more and do his best.
So I’ve knitted these two lame little threads into my only line for hooking a good doctor: My doctor-Brad Fenton-is a good doctor, a healer and a smart guy. I ask him “Brad, if it were you, who would you go to?”
I realize that this is pretty pathetic: what I really want to know is: out of all the patients that Dr. X has seen, how many got better and how many croaked? How does that compare with Dr. Y? My doctor doesn't really know the answer and my old girlfriend-like me-can't even begin to guess.
So while we’re at it, let me ask you: yes, you. Do you have a really good doctor? How do you know? And if you really know, would you mind coming and checking these guys out for me?
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