Wayfaring MD
HIPAA is for reals, folks. All of my "patient stories" have been modified to protect patient privacy. Also, I am an anonymous internet person. Why should you trust an anonymous internet person to give you medical advice? Don't ask me, ask your doctor!
I got to go to the hospital roof today!
Anonymous Asks:
If a centaur had a tummy ache, would they call you or a vet?
wayfaringmd Said:
I reckon it depends which tummy was aching.
“Shouldn’t my insurance pay for it if you ordered it?”- patient exasperated about the cost of a necessary but uncovered test. Welcome to America, where insurers without medical training determine what service is medically necessary.
Y’all it’s happened.
An intern asked me how to use the landline phone. As in, “do I press the green button before or after I dial the number?”
I am officially old.
Attending presenting: this is a graph of syphilis rates per county in our state. As you can see ours is the highest.
Residents: we’re number 1! We’re number 1! We’re number 1!
quick what’s ur opinion on tea. everyone who sees this is obligated to answer in some way
Tea is life.
(via ladyofthehouse)
Anonymous Asks:
How can you have strep throat again if you jad it before?
wayfaringmd Said:
It’s bacterial. It’s not like a virus where you build immunity and don’t get it again. You can get it many many times. This was my third time as an adult.
Resident C, explaining how she rescues injured dogs on the side of the road…
J: oh, I see a dog on the road and think “man, somebody better come find their dog. And then I keep driving.
C: heartless. For shame.
J: it’s too much commitment. but I’ll stop and move a turtle to the other side of the road though.
C: what even? You’ll stop for turtles but not dogs?
J: yeah, cuz I’m just a consult at that point. Like I am just jumping in to fix my one little thing and then they can follow up with PCP after that.
C: maybe family medicine isn’t for you, man.
Anonymous Asks:
Hello Dr. Wayfaring, I'd like to ask in what special ways ,if any, your medical school changed you. (Besides instructing you!) Was there something in the environment,the faculty, the students,the physical setting?
wayfaringmd Said:
This is a great question. I think, if anything, medical school made me more confident in dealing with people. I was always the kid who didn’t want to order the pizza or tell the waitress my order because it meant I’d have to talk to another human. My mother, on the other hand, will know the Walmart checkout lady’s life story before she’s finished bagging her groceries. I just don’t love talking to people I don’t know. I’m a deep introvert at heart.
Med school forces you to face that discomfort in talking to new people, and it does it on a daily basis. It’s no problem for me to talk to strangers in the office (although I still won’t strike up a conversation in the checkout line). I’m not a confrontational person, but med school also taught me how to handle difficult news or difficult patient encounters with grace and civility. So while I still don’t love confronting patients about their illicit drug use or their inappropriate behavior, I can do it without panicking.
Overall, I’d say med school forced me into adulthood. I went straight through from college to med school and graduated at only 25, so I was still not fully ready to adult at that age. But once you’ve watched some people die, a few get born, and have given bad news to a dozen or more people, you learn that you really can put on your big girl panties and do the things.
Medblrs, how did medical school change you?
I’ve got strep for the 3rd time as an adult. Last time I had it I knew immediately because a) my son had it too and b) I felt like death. This time around my throat has been sore for a week but I didn’t think it was as bad as last time because I have no other symptoms (ya dummy, you also had concurrent flu last time). So I’ve waited a week to get tested and lo and behold it pops positive. Fun times. I just hope my kids haven’t picked it up from me.
Vaccination Dramatically Lowers Long Covid Risk | Scientific American
Anonymous Asks:
Wayfaring, what would you appreciate from a patient who wants to show how much they appreciate you as a doctor? And for specialties (like obgyn) are office gifts like specialty-related props appreciated as gifts?
wayfaringmd Said:
Most employers restrict what we can accept as far as gifts go. Mine limits us to less than a $20 value per person. Otherwise it can get us in trouble with anti-kickback laws and such. So treating the office to a catered lunch is a nice gesture but I’d call ahead and schedule it with an office manager to make sure it can be accepted. As for office gifts like models and such, we aren’t allowed to take them from drug reps so they probably would cost well above that limit and wouldn’t be allowed.
I always appreciate homemade or home grown gifts from my patients because they show real care. See my #PPOTD tag. I’ve gotten lots of produce, freshly processed bacon, fresh eggs, baked goods, homemade moonshine (that one’s a no-no—don’t do that), custom shirts for my adoption day, a crocheted baby blanket, and lots more. A thoughtfully written thank you note is always nice. You really don’t have to give super fancy gifts. Just something that shows you thought of us is always appreciated.
Overheard in clinic:
“My immucus system ain’t that great”
PGY2: the patient said he was stressed out about something but he didn’t want to say what it was.
Attending: well this note in his chart says they couldn’t start home health because he was in county lockup, so I bet he might be stressed about that.
PGY2: good to know. I’m gonna go ask him about his case of incarceritis!
Anonymous Asks:
Hey I hope your day was going alright, I have a question, and it’s completely fine if you can’t/don’t answer. I can’t call my gyno because it’s night time, but I think I had my first pelvic exam(with gloves and pressing up?) I’m nervous to return to her and nervous about the pain I experienced because I was not told she would insert anything into me, I just thought she would observe.
I am feeling pain/soreness after the exam for a few days now and I’m unsure what it is, I don’t know if my anxiety is making it worse, but it does hurt to pee after this exam, and it wasn’t hurting before. I did have a semi-full bladder because I thought I was going in for a ultrasound, and it said ultrasound on the messages they call to confirm. So I’m just confused and scared, sorry to dump this all on you, I tried to research online but nothing was really coming up with what I was wondering. I will call my gyno first in the morning but I am very worried and unsure.
wayfaringmd Said:
I’m not sure what the question is here, but I understand your frustration. GYNs do lots of pelvic exams every day but they often forget that for someone it may be their very first one. They often aren’t great at remembering to explain what they’re doing before they do it either. I’m sorry you had a bad experience, anon. Next time you go make sure to ask the doctor to explain what they’re going to be doing before they get started.