Comments on: We Need Those Meds!

By: Starjack

Starjack — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 14:07:51 +0000

Brilliant. They should teach the WhiteCoat Method For Dealing With Annoying Relatives (WCMFDWAR) in medical schools.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 21:55:59 +0000

Brilliant!

By: Raf

Raf — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 00:47:45 +0000

Good thinking, WC!

Like you said, it solves two problems. Perhaps you could enlist a colleague in the department that you can send the relative to collect [important-sounding yet irrelevant object] from?

I can think of 3 approaches, or modifications to the approach, to deal with that when you don’t have a handy Helpful Thing to send the relative to go and do.
1) Tell them, specifically, that it’s important that you hear it directly from the patient, and that even just hearing his speech will help you figure out his breathing.
2) Just ask them to step outside for a moment – doesn’t quite have the same feel as telling them to (effectively) shut up, but has the same outcome.
3) Make a point of asking if they have anything they QUICKLY need to add once you’ve finished talking with the pt.

By: Bailey

Bailey — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 23:20:59 +0000

Genius! Good thinking on your feet.

By: Snarky Scalpel

Snarky Scalpel — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 16:04:08 +0000

Oh no. Oh, dear, no. Oh, that’ll bring the wrath of the concerned relative on you and you don’t want -that-, because once you have that, no diagnosis you come up with is serious enough to account for the symptoms and none is mild enough to appease the relative and you just generally turn into an incompetent idiot straight away. Little wonder too, when you focus on such trivia as the patient’s description of pain and ignore the much more grave matter of their relatives’ cooking escapades as recent as two years ago, that may, nay, MUST have something to do with the current bout of heart attack.
/sarcasm

But really. I’ve tried that. It always earns me an insta-enemy in the shape of the relative.

By: girlvet

girlvet — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 15:10:13 +0000

The alternative is to tell the wife that you want the patient to answer the questions.

By: Dr Killpatient

Dr Killpatient — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 14:49:20 +0000

That’s a great idea – but I usually find that these annoying family members are also usually very anal – and always have an extensive med list on them.

By: Snarky Scalpel

Snarky Scalpel — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 14:34:45 +0000

Genious!