During my freshman year in high school, my science teacher assigned us to interview people in the community about how they use science in their careers. Although I don’t remember most of the people I spoke with, I can tell you that I spent meaningful time with a local community pharmacist who changed my life.
What I saw was a man who loved his career and truly cared for his patients. In an instant, I knew that I wanted to become a pharmacist, and I never wavered from that goal throughout high school.
Knowing what you want to be when you grow up at age 14 is unusual, but it is very liberating. I simply had to work backwards to figure out how to achieve my goal of becoming a pharmacist.
After high school, I chose to attend Ohio Northern University (ONU) because it had a unique pharmacy program. Rather than attending college for 2 years and then applying to the pharmacy program, ONU students were admitted to the College of Pharmacy from day one.
Although it was expensive, being in pharmacy school from day one and avoiding the risk of rejection made it worthwhile for me.
In college, I spent a lot of time in the library. Although the classwork was difficult, I did well with one exception: organic chemistry.
I did fail organic chemistry—a notorious “weed out” course—but I successfully retook the class over the summer and graduated on time with the rest of my classmates. Failing a course is a difficult stumbling block, but I stood strong and persevered.
Today, I’m thankful for the wonderful pharmacy profession for so many reasons.
First, I’m thankful that community pharmacists are the health care professionals most accessible to the public. If my local pharmacist wasn’t accessible to me, then I likely would have taken a different career path.
Second, I’m proud of the work we pharmacists do, the diversity of our career options, and the relationships we share with our patients and fellow health care providers.
Pharmacy is a profession that makes a real difference in people’s lives. It certainly has made all the difference in mine.
Bad Behavior, Comeuppance, Doctor/Physician, Medical Office, Non-Dialogue, USA | | Healthy | June 14, 2019
I have been having menstrual problems for my entire life, which is later discovered to be a cyst on my ovary. About four years before it was discovered, though, I would bleed constantly. It was never fresh blood, though; it was old and black. I would go months without a period, and then months with one.
A doctor sent me to a gynecologist to make sure it wasn’t cancer causing my problems, as I have a family history for various kinds. I was 26, but I took my mom with me for support. The female gynecologist sent my mom out of the room to ask me medical questions, one of which was if I was sexually active.
I told her I wasn’t, because I hadn’t had sex. I’m used to people acting like they don’t believe me, so when she gave me this look, I just nodded to confirm that I was telling the truth. A few questions later, she asked if I had done any “self-stimulation” that may have resulted in a scratch or a tear that would explain the bleeding.
I told her no, because there was always too much blood and it grossed me out. She became exasperated and yelled, “YOU HAVE TO BE HONEST WITH ME!” in a very hostile voice.
I was angry, but I wanted to get this over with, so I just accepted it. Mom came back in and sat in the room on the other side of a curtain, so she couldn’t see any of what happened next.
This doctor was going out of her way to be rough in her examination. I was very sure it shouldn’t be as painful as it was. At one point, she used what she called a probe to hold me open and use a light for a better view, which I felt was fair, but it opened me very wide to the point of near pain. When I hissed and told her it was very uncomfortable, she looked at me like I was an idiot and told me, “You need to calm down. It’s smaller than a man’s penis.”
Now I was offended and angry, but I didn’t want to yell at this woman and upset my mom by “being rude,” since she couldn’t see what was going on. I tried to ignore it, and after another minute or so, I felt the need to fart.
I waited to see if she’d move away for something, but she didn’t. Before I could tell her, though, she realized I was tensing up but not why, and she leaned in to me and, in a very aggressive whisper, said, “If you do not relax right now, I will end this exam and make you come back, and I don’t think you want that.”
So, I nodded and said, “Okay. I’ll relax.”
When she turned away and came back to continue her examination, I finally relaxed and just let it go right in her face. My mom heard and yelled at me for it, and I just told her, “No, no. She was turned away; it’s fine.”
The doctor said nothing about it, but the exam concluded quickly and with no pain, like someone had flipped a switch on the whole thing. I later found out, while telling another female friend about this incident, that this particular gynecologist was known for being horrible to patients, and she thanked me for doing what she wished she had.
Jerk, Medical Office, Nurses, Ohio, USA | | Healthy | June 14, 2019
(I’ve suffered from chronic pain for ten years now. I’m on opioid medications and have been for five years. I have to go to my doctor every month for the prescriptions since they’re strictly controlled. One visit, I get a new nurse. She sees my reason for the visit but apparently ignores my medical history.)
Nurse: “So, you’re after a refill for [current medication]?”
Me: “Yeah, I need to get a refill before I go out of town next week.”
Nurse: “You know that’s an opioid, right?”
Me: “I’d hope so; I’ve been on it for years now.”
(She looks at my weight on my vitals. Because of my condition, I’m on the lighter side.)
Nurse: “Well, I’m telling the doctor not to. You’re obviously an addict.”
Me: “What?!”
Nurse: “You’re just on it for the high! Whoever started you on it is an idiot!”
Me: “[Doctor] put me on it!”
Nurse: “Well, I’m taking you off of it! It’s for your own good!”
(She storms out. I’m in too much shock to say or do much of anything. A few minutes later, my doctor comes in.)
Doctor: “So, the nurse suggested I cut you off of [medication].”
Me: “Yeah, she yelled at me and called me an addict.”
Doctor: “I told her that unless she knew a way to fix [condition], you were staying on it. She said you didn’t look like you had anything, but we’re going to talk to her about jumping to conclusions. So, usual pharmacy?”
(While I’ve seen her at that practice since, I’ve never had to deal with her again.)
Canada, Dentist, Extra Stupid, Ontario, Patients | | Healthy | June 13, 2019
(I work as a dental assistant. After doing some fillings for a patient, I walk her out to the front desk and she stops in the bathroom first. I notice our receptionist is busy with a call, and the dentist doesn’t have another patient for about 15 minutes, so I decide I’ll help out at the front desk and see the last patient out. She comes out of the bathroom and we have this conversation at the desk.)
Patient: “The dentist put a black filling in my mouth!”
Me: “I’m sorry, but there isn’t any such thing as a black filling. I can assure you [Doctor] only placed white composite fillings that match your tooth shade.”
Patient: “It’s right here! It’s black!” *points to a tooth on the opposite side from what we worked on*
Me: “Ma’am, [Doctor] placed fillings on the other side of your mouth. He didn’t touch the tooth you’re pointing to. What your pointing to is a silver amalgam filling that has aged and is no longer shiny, causing it to appear almost black.”
Patient: “No. This was not here before!”
Me: “Ma’am, where is your mouth frozen?”
Patient: *points to the side opposite of tooth she is complaining about*
Me: “That’s the side [Doctor] worked on, not the tooth you notice the dark spot on.”
Patient: “No, he did both. Go check with him or the nurse that was working with him.”
Me: “I am the assistant that was working with him. I’m just helping our receptionist, as she was busy with a call when you first came to the desk, and I can assure you that we did not work on that tooth or that side of your mouth. That is an old silver filling. If it bothers you, we can have the dentist look at it and see if he can replace it, but we’ll need to book you another appointment for that.”
Patient: “No, it’s fine.” *pays and leaves*
Receptionist: “I’m so glad that happened to you and not me.”
Hospital, Ignoring & Inattentive, Jerk, New York, Nurses, USA | | Healthy | June 13, 2019
(My father happens to be totally blind, and he and his rabbi are visiting my mother in the hospital where she is being treated for cancer. Besides being blind, my father is able-bodied. The rabbi walks with a very defined limp.)
Father: “Thank you for driving me here, Rabbi. I just wanted to warn you that the nurses here must think people walk and hear with their eyes. They’re going to offer me a wheelchair, and they’ll address any questions to you.”
Rabbi: “What? I’m sure they won’t.”
Father: “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
(The rabbi and my father walk into the hospital and go to sign in as visitors. Immediately…)
Nurse: “Wait here while I call someone to bring a wheelchair.”
Rabbi: “It’s okay; I can manage the elevator without it.”
Nurse: “What? Oh, no, it’s not for you. It’s for him.”
Father: “I don’t need a wheelchair, really.”
Nurse: *to the rabbi* “Are you sure he’ll be okay without it?”
Rabbi: *to my father, after they manage to turn down the wheelchair and head for the elevator* “You were right!”
Grandparents, Health & Body, Lazy/Unhelpful, Middle School, USA | | Healthy | June 12, 2019
(I am in middle school and have been home sick for the past couple days with a bad sore throat and high fever. On the third day, my throat is still so sore I can’t speak or swallow anything and I am still exhausted, so at breakfast, I try to tell my grandparents, whom I live with, that I don’t think I can go to school. This does not go over well. Note, my grandfather is a licensed family physician and has successfully run his own practice for the past forty years.)
Grandfather: “Your glands aren’t swollen and you don’t feel that warm. It’s normal for a sore throat to linger. You’ve missed enough school; you can’t miss anymore. You’ll be fine.”
(My grandmother defers to his “diagnosis” and drives me to school, even though I haven’t eaten anything because swallowing is agony. I get there early and hang out in the school entryway waiting for the homeroom bell. I am just miserable. I’m achy and exhausted, and my throat hurts so much it’s making me cry. The school nurse walks by and notices the tears.)
Nurse: “[My Name], what’s wrong?”
(I try to tell her my throat hurts, but nothing comes out. She ushers me into her office.)
Nurse: “Well, let’s start with taking a temperature, okay? Just hold on a minute.”
(She puts the thermometer in my ear and waits for it to beep. After she reads it, there’s a beat of silence.)
Nurse: “Wow. [My Name], you can’t be here. I’m going to have to call your parents.”
(It turned out I had a 103-degree fever. Less than ten minutes after she dropped me off, my grandmother got a phone call from the nurse to come and pick me up. I didn’t even make it to homeroom. So much for not feeling “that warm”! Thankfully, my grandfather has a sense of humor, because I have never let him live that one down.)
Atlanta, Bigotry, Car, Comeuppance, Georgia, Nurses, USA | | Healthy | June 12, 2019
(I am a nurse. I am invited by one of my former boyfriends to go to a movie with him and his current girlfriend. Since I have no current boyfriend, he says that I can bring a friend with me. I ask a former classmate from nursing school along. The classmate is black. After we are picked up, the former boyfriend starts making bigoted jokes. After each one, he will look at my classmate in the mirror and say, “Oh, no offense.” After about three of these, the classmate turns to me.)
Classmate: “[My Name], we had an interesting case last week.”
Me: *who knows a straight line when I hear one* “Oh, really? What happened?”
Classmate: “Well, we had a new patient on the hall, and as the charge nurse, I was the one checking him in. The whole time, though, he kept making remarks.”
Me: “What kind of remarks?”
Classmate: “Oh, you know. Sexual remarks.”
Me: “So, what happened after that?”
Classmate: “Well, you know at my hospital, nurses are required to insert Foley catheters. So, I was getting him ready for it, and he started making his remarks again. I proceeded with the intubation, though. But I’m afraid I made a mistake.”
Me: “What kind of mistake?”
Classmate: “I forgot to use any jelly.”
(There was an audible hiss from the driver, and the classmate looked up at him in the mirror.)
Medical Clinic, Silly, USA | | Healthy | June 11, 2019
(I am running a test in clinic. Twenty seconds into the three-minute timer, I can already very obviously see what the result will be. I go to tell the doctor.)
Me: “That test is so positive it could be an inspirational poster!”
Germany, Hospital, Ignoring & Inattentive, Medical Office, Non-Dialogue, Nurses | | Healthy | June 10, 2019
When I was about 17, I was treated for an ingrown toenail. After several tries, the doctor decided to remove part of the nail and the root of the nail so that it wouldn’t grow back.
The doctor prescribed the strongest pain medication he could. A stronger medication would have counted as narcotic. I went home, an hour passed and the local anesthetic wore off. I took the pain medication as the pain got stronger.
Due to brain damage I suffered as a child, my pain reception doesn’t work that well. So, I soon reckoned that something was off, since the pain continued to increase. I double-checked the medication, took some more, and waited. The pain still increased. I was going up the walls.
Now it was too late to revisit the doctor, so my dad drove me to the hospital. Luckily, the emergency room was quite empty. I told the doctor there what was up and he wanted to take a look. As soon as he cut the bandage from my toe, the pain was gone. He reapplied a bandage, put the old one in a bag, and told me to bring it to my doctor the next day.
So, the next day, I was back at my surgeon. He was a cheery guy normally. But as he took the bandage from the bag, he grew silent. His head whole head went red as he calmly excused himself. He went on the floor and bellowed through the whole office for the nurse, who had applied the bandage the day before. He was so loud, I expected windows to shatter. As soon as he saw her, he chewed her out. He was fuming.
Afterward, he explained the problem: the nurse had fixed the bandage with a knot, which was a normal procedure, but in the process, she had placed this knot right on the incision in the nailbed. The pressure applied this way was the source for the pain. No amount of pain medication could have helped against this.
Doctor/Physician, Great Stuff, Hospital, Ignoring & Inattentive, Indiana, USA | | Healthy | June 10, 2019
(Some thirty-plus years ago, my mother is giving birth. The doctor has just come in from doing a hysterectomy and is not paying the best of attention. Fortunately, all is going well, and my brother is born safely. Then, this happens.)
Doctor: “It’s a girl!”
Dad: *takes one look* “That’s no girl.”
(Punchline: last summer, my brother came out as my transgender sister.)
Bizarre, Health & Body, home, Missouri, Patients, USA | | Healthy | June 7, 2019
(My stepdad has Meniere’s disease, and years ago, he had a doctor remove one of the ossicle bones in his ear, rendering him with a complete conductive loss in one ear. Because this is the only reason he can’t hear, his doctor recommends he try a bone-anchored hearing aid, which bypasses the outer and middle ear and lets him hear through the inner ear. The initial surgery involves placing a screw in his skull, and before he can use the hearing aid, this area must heal. It’s been taking a while to heal, and one night, while my mom is at work, my stepdad calls me to the bathroom.)
Me: “What’s wrong?”
Stepdad: “Come here. Look at my screw.”
(I take a look at the area, but I can’t see the screw. It’s so covered in blood that all I can see is an indention, so I fear the screw has fallen in.)
Me: “I can’t see it!”
Stepdad: “That’s because it’s right here.”
(He held out his hand, where he’d been holding the screw the whole time. After this, I made him call my mom’s work to let her know. They sent her home because “her husband’s screw fell out of his head.”)
Planning On Taking A Life The Same Day You’re Giving Birth To One
Bad Behavior, Canada, Hospital, Non-Dialogue, Nurses, Ontario | | Healthy | June 6, 2019
I’m past due with my second child by a week when I wake up around 4:00 am and find fresh blood in the toilet after urinating. I wake my husband, get the toddler ready, and grab the bags, and we get to the hospital a little before 7:00 am. At this point, I am beginning to feel contractions coming on. The intake takes several minutes before I’m placed in a pre-check room — essentially a small department of eight beds, divided by curtains, where they do cervix checks, blood pressure, and first-step inductions. I’m placed in the last bed on the far side and hooked up to a fetus monitor while a new nurse checks all my vitals. I come to hate this woman immediately.
She tells us first that my toddler can’t be in the room with us, to which my husband and I both say we are trying to contact nearby family but no one’s answering yet, plus we have yet to be moved to a birthing suite and I cannot carry all those bags myself at this time. The nurse relents after two more tellings, but says snippily that the toddler can’t be there for the birth. We both know and inform her that we have no intention of having my toddler in the room at that time. She leaves and my husband goes back to calling family repeatedly.
A second nurse comes in, checks everything and suggests maybe I go home, stating that it’s probably too early for anything to happen. I tell her I don’t want to — that the contractions are starting to hurt badly — so she takes me into the birthing wing and sets me up in the jacuzzi. I’m there for twenty minutes. The first half, I’m starting to feel better, but then the contractions double. I count through the pain that I’m in a contraction for about a minute every two minutes.
Cue the b**** nurse. She comes in at 8:00 am and says I shouldn’t be in the tub — yet doesn’t help me climb out — and that my contractions can’t possibly be coming that fast, and has me walk back to the intake wing. Everything hurts! I’m trying not to cry and to do the breathing exercises, etc., all while the nurse hooks me back up to the fetus monitor, berates my husband for still having our toddler here, and then leaves. She only returns once, to snap at me, saying, “You need to keep it down! You can’t be screaming or crying; you’re upsetting other patients here!”
For context, I was induced in my first pregnancy due to the possibility of preeclampsia, stayed four days in the hospital, and was so completely loopy between lack of sleep and the epidural that come the birth, I did it half-dazed. I have never experienced the pain before this, but I’m trying to soldier on and muffle any screaming and tears due to my toddler being in the room. I finally convince the nurse to check my cervix next time she’s in, which she does, only to say I’m not even dilated. That’s a lie, because I was nearly two centimeters dilated when I saw my OB three days ago. I ask for the doctor and she says he’s not there and leaves. My husband leaves at this time to pass our toddler on to family. Out of desperation, I call out for a nurse until another one comes a few minutes later. I immediately ask to see the doctor and she goes to fetch him. He comes in at 9:00 am with the b**** nurse, who’s talking to him, “She’s not dilated… Didn’t do labour classes… Not breathing right…”
I want to punch her.
The doctor takes off the fetus monitor devices and checks my cervix. He goes, “She’s four centimeters dilated! Get her to the birthing suite now.” Then he vacates the room.
The nurse looks at me. “Okay, let’s go.”
A second nurse asks if she should grab the wheelchair, to which b**** nurse says we don’t need it and proceeds to have me walk out of the intake wing and into the labour side. That’s a distance of seven hospital beds and past three birthing rooms.
I’m leaning against the wall, trying to walk through crippling contractions, while she’s telling me I need to hurry up and I shouldn’t take so long. I hiss at my husband that if she doesn’t stop talking at me, once I get closer I’m going to rip her throat out. Unfortunately, she says nothing by the time I shuffle to the door and disappears.
No thanks to her, I can’t receive any pain medication because I am too far dilated by this point, and I deliver my healthy baby a few minutes after 10:00 am.
Under This Care, You Won’t Live To Be 26, Let Alone 102
England, Hospital, Ignoring & Inattentive, London, Non-Dialogue, Nurses, UK | | Healthy | June 5, 2019
After being rushed to hospital via ambulance, I was put in a bed on the ward around two in the morning.
Each bay had four beds in it, and each bed was labelled one through four. The patients’ names were above the beds, and the charts were located at the bottom of the beds.
I hadn’t been asleep for long when I was suddenly thrown upright by someone fiddling with my bed and adjusting the top so I was sitting. Another nurse grabbed my arm before I had fully woken up, so there was one on each side. One was taking my blood pressure and the other was about to insert a needle into my cannula.
Neither had said a word to me.
Tired, cranky, and having only just gotten to sleep after being transferred up from A&E, I asked them what they were doing.
“Just giving you your medicine, Catherine,” one of the nurses replied.
My name is not Catherine.
I asked them to check my chart and to get the needles away from me. They did, grumbling as if I was being dramatic, only to both go wide-eyed. I was in bed two and apparently, they needed the woman in bed one.
I thought nothing of it. I was only happy that they hadn’t injected me with a random drug as I was pregnant, and who knows what could have happened.
It wasn’t until the next morning that I found out that Catherine in the bed across from me was 102 years old and suffering from dementia.
I was twenty-five and heavily pregnant at the time.
I don’t know how they managed to mix us up, but it did not give me much confidence in the nurses during that hospital stay
Sleep Until Noon And Then TV Show – Yeah, They Really Need Therapy
Crazy Requests, Germany, Medical Office, Time | | Healthy | June 4, 2019
(As an occupational therapist, it’s my responsibility to coordinate appointments with my patients, both in the office or in their home. Sometimes I have to shuffle them around to fit them all in, minding their work schedules and such. I’m trying to find an appointment with a patient
Patient: “You can’t come before 11:00 am; I like to sleep late. But 1:00 pm on Wednesday would be fine.”
Me: “I’m afraid that’s not possible, as I have already scheduled another patient at that time. How about Thursday, 2:00 pm?”
Patient: “I don’t know. [TV Show] is running at that time. Can you come later on Wednesday?”
Me: “Not really. The whole Wednesday is full; I have patients coming in from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. I’m not even sure I will get to take a break in between. So, Wednesday isn’t going to work.”
Patient: “Well, I don’t mind you coming in after 6:00 pm. In fact, that would be perfect. But don’t come after 7:00 pm, because it would be too late.”
(I love my job. But I’m not going to work that much overtime, after a ten-hour day, to accommodate your naps and TV shows!)
Extra Stupid, Florida, Food & Drink, Hospital, Nurses, USA | | Healthy | June 3, 2019
(I’ve just had gallbladder surgery. They want to keep me overnight for observation. A nurse brings me a dinner tray. I am surprised to find a full meal plus a soda.)
Me: “Um, hey… They said I wasn’t supposed to have solid food yet.”
Nurse #1 : “No, you can have this. It’s been approved. No worries.”
(I’m slightly confused, but I figure I must’ve misheard while I was still loopy from anesthesia. I get a couple sips of soda in and a bite of food before I feel the urge to empty my stomach. Thankfully, another nurse is walking by and runs in to get a bucket.)
Nurse #2 : “Yep, that sometimes happens after gallbladder surgery. No worries, hon. Glad I was walking by, eh?”
(She glances over at the tray of food and raises an eyebrow.)
Me: “Someone brought it in ten minutes ago. They said I could have it.”
Nurse #2 : *calmly* “No. No. Absolutely not. You get clear liquids tonight. No carbonation, either. Let me get this out of here, and I’ll find you some Jello.”
(She picks up the tray and walks out the door. I hear the following as she disappears down the hallway.)
Nurse #2 : “ALL RIGHT! WHO WAS THE DUMBA** THAT GAVE A GALLBLADDER PATIENT REAL FOOD? TELL ME NOW
Doctor/Physician, Extra Stupid, Medical Office, USA | |
Healthy | June 2, 2019
(This happens when I get sick during middle school. My mother brings me to urgent care to get me checked out.)
Doctor: “Looks like she’s managed to catch this year’s flu.” *gives usual instructions for dealing with it* “After her temperature has been normal for a full day she can go back to school.”
Mom: “Just one day?”
Doctor: “Yes, that should be long enough.”
(My mother tells me on the car ride home that she found this odd. Before, when my brother or I have gotten sick like this, our regular doctor has instructed her to keep us home until our temperature was normal for two full days. But, he’s the doctor, right? He must know what he’s talking about. So, once my fever has been down for a day, I go back to school. The day starts out fine, but on the bus ride home I start to feel really cruddy. I tell my mom how I’m feeling, and we end up going into urgent care again. A nurse comes in to talk to us first, and my mom tells her about my last visit there.)
Nurse: “He said to send her back after only one day of feeling better? Seriously?!”
(She was pretty incredulous that such instructions had been given. The checkup proceeded, and it turns out I’d caught pneumonia. That most likely happened because I’d gone back to school before my immune system was able to fully bounce back.)
Doesn’t Understand The Weight That Comes With Being A Doctor
Doctor/Physician, Extra Stupid, Jerk, Medical Office, USA, Virginia | | Healthy | June 1, 2019
(I go to a doctor’s office where you have a regularly-prescribed doctor but if they are out, you get another that works in that specific building. I have been suffering from extreme menstrual pains ever since I started and have been to the doctor many times to find a solution, getting dumb answers — such as when I tell them I’ve lost about 50 pounds over six months and they tell me that I’m not watching my weight — but this one takes the cake.)
Newer Doctor: “I see you’ve been here for this problem before. What did [Regular Doctor] say?”
Me: “The last time I was here, he suggested [pain reliever] and to stop eating dairy completely, and if that didn’t work, he was going to prescribe me [birth control].”
Newer Doctor: “Oh, no, no, no. We are not going to put you on a pill to mess with all your hormones. You should go on a diet and you’ll start to feel better.”
Me: “But I’m already on the Keto diet. Do you want me to start eating ice?”
Newer Doctor: “I don’t believe that! I’ve seen your records of weight, and you’ve lost a lot, but you need to lose much more!”
Me: “Isn’t the suggested weight 180 pounds? I’m 195. At this rate, I’ll be 140 before summer!”
Newer Doctor: “That’s good! A doctor should always tell you to lose weight! I hate when I go to the doctor and they just try to change everything about my body.”
Me: *thinking* “Isn’t that exactly what you’re doing?!”
(I took her advice with a grain of salt and went back when my regular doctor got back. I started taking the pill and it has helped significantly!)
“Cheer Up!” Is What All People With Depression Want To Hear
Doctor/Physician, Extra Stupid, Lazy/Unhelpful, Medical Office, Pennsylvania, USA | | Healthy | May 31, 2019
(After a couple of years of not being able to go to counseling for my various issues, I am trying out a new practice with my new insurance. This occurs during the initial interview with the physician’s assistant who is supposed to help me choose a counselor.)
Me: “And I sometimes feel like, whatever decision I make will be the wrong one, just because I made it…”
Physician’s Assistant: *without looking up from her notes* “Oh, don’t feel like that.”
Me: “Um, I’m sorry?”
Physician’s Assistant: “You shouldn’t feel like that. It’s not helpful.” *finally looking up at me* “So, what were you saying?”
(That was the last time I went to that office. I have to wonder how many years of schooling this woman had under her belt, and still somehow thought it was a brilliant idea to tell someone with severe depression and anxiety that all their problems would be solved if they just “don’t feel like that”!)
Bigotry, Extra Stupid, home, Kansas, Students, USA | | Healthy | May 31, 2019
(One summer, I tutor a kid in my neighborhood because he failed his freshman English course and needs to retake it as summer school. One day while we are working, my brother, who is working on his RN at the time, comes downstairs in his scrubs and heads to work. Once he leaves, the kid I am tutoring asks about my brother.)
Me: “Yeah, my brother is studying to be a nurse.”
Kid: “You mean a doctor?”
Me: “No, a nurse.”
Kid: “Wait, men can be nurses?”
(This kid was 14 and genuinely had no idea that men could be nurses. He thought men were doctors and women were nurses. I don’t know if he thought those were just gendered terms for the same profession, or if he genuinely thought that no man would ever stoop to being a nurse, but I found that a little worrying, as did my brother when I told him.)
Doctor/Physician, England, Hospital, Jerk, UK | | Healthy | May 30, 2019
(After I get back from my vacation, I get a bad UTI infection and need antibiotics from my General Practitioner. I am prescribed a course and everything is good until the evening. My entire body randomly breaks out in spots — big, red, blotchy patches. It feels like ants are crawling over my entire body. At around three am, I go to the urgent care centre and the out-of-hours GP calls me through.)
Me: “I have this rash. It hurts so much. It started after I started taking the penicillin this morning. I’ve never been allergic before but my mum and grandma are—“
GP: “I’ll stop you there. This is clearly eczema.”
Me: “I don’t think so. My chest really hurts, too.”
GP: “Definitely eczema. There isn’t much I can do.”
Me: “I don’t think it’s eczema. It’s come on really suddenly.”
(I’m struggling to breathe and the rash has spread up my neck and throat.)
GP: “Stop being a baby! My niece has diabetes and she’s never moaned as much as you have right now!”
(I excuse myself and stumble back to the waiting room. My mum is there and manages to catch me as I collapse on the floor. She calls for an ambulance and the doctor comes back out.)
GP: “You can’t sleep here!”
Mum: “She can’t breathe, you idiot!”
(The ambulance came and I was given an adrenaline shot and rushed into the main section of the hospital. I was right. It was anaphylaxis. I was having an allergic reaction to penicillin.)
Bad Behavior, Doctors, England, Hampshire, Medical Office, UK | | Healthy | May 29, 2019
(I am 19, and I go in for my annual checkup at the doctor. I am given a standard medical questionnaire to fill in. One of the questions is, “On average, how many units of alcohol do you drink a week?” I have never been a big drinker, not even as a teen. Not for any particular reason; it just isn’t my thing. At most, I have a few drinks on New Years and a few on my birthday. I write on the form that I have a couple of units a week, which would average out to the few drinks on my birthday and New Years with plenty of wiggle room to spare, just in case. I hand the form in, and it is sent to the doctor. Eventually, he calls me in. We do my height and weight and blood pressure. All good. Then he comes to my alcohol intake and narrows his eyes at me.)
Doctor: “You can be truthful, you know. I’m a medical professional.”
Me: “I know. I am being honest. I’m not a big drinker.”
(He stares at me for a while.)
Doctor: “I was young once. And I have teenage kids. I’m not going to judge you. Be honest.”
Me: “I am being honest. I’m not a drinker.”
Doctor: *condescendingly* “What do you do when you go clubbing? Drink water?”
(Taken aback, I shake my head. I don’t go clubbing; nightclubs are my idea of Hell. I have a full-time job, often working fifty or more hours, and I have no interest in going to loud clubs or bars on my days off.)
Me: “I don’t go out much. I’d rather go out for coffee than go clubbing.”
(The doctor raises his eyebrows.)
Doctor: “Okay, well, I’m going to put you down for ten units a week.”
(He picks up his pen and actually crosses out what I wrote.)
Me: “No! What I wrote was true. I don’t drink. Even a few units a week is generous. I don’t want you to change what I wrote.”
Doctor: “Look, just be honest. If you’re not, we can’t treat you.”
Me: “I am being honest. I don’t give you permission to change it.”
Doctor: “Well, I’m the doctor, and I have reason to believe you are being dishonest. You need to stop lying on medical forms. That’s a big deal. If you keep lying on them, you could die because we don’t have the right information.”
(I keep trying to argue with him but he writes over what I wrote and puts down ten units a week. Dumbfounded and unsure of what to do, I carry on with the rest of the exam, just wanting it to be over. As soon as I am out, I go straight to reception and tell them I want to make a complaint. At first, the receptionist is alarmed and asks what the problem is. When I tell her, she pauses and then rolls her eyes.)
Receptionist: “Look, sweetie, we won’t tell your parents. Everything you tell us is confidential.”
Me: “I live by myself. That’s not my issue. The doctor falsified my medical records without my permission.”
Receptionist: “Your medical records need to be accurate, sweetie. Otherwise, we can’t treat you.”
(The receptionist refuses to log my complaint. When I continue to insist, she looks down her nose at me.)
Receptionist: “For somebody who doesn’t drink, you sure are protesting a lot.”
(I wanted to scream at her that I was angry because they were DELIBERATELY FALSIFYING my medical records, but instead, I left and transferred to another practice.)
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