The Worst Doctor On the Earth Today

This is a copy of an email I sent today after visiting a local physician...I have omitted the name of the clinic...

Thank you for reading my comment. If you wouldn't mind, I would like a confirmation email that lets me know this was heard.

I have been sick since last Friday with extreme body aches, profuse sweating, high fever, and intense chills. I am not even feeling well sitting here at the computer...sweating...and sweating. I just have to let you know what happened today. I decided to seek medical help since I have not felt this sick in the last six years (at least) of my life. Our preferred physicians were not available today. My wife just made an appointment with Dr Slack. We were so anxious to get some answers about this crazy condition.

This was EASILY the WORST visit I have EVER even HEARD OF with a doctor.

Let me show you how some of the visit went...no exaggerations...

1) After Slack entered the room and asked me some unusually abrupt questions about symptoms she asked me to sit on the bed. I was in one of my intense sweat attacks at that point. My forehead was soaked and so was my shirt. The FIRST thing she said to me was "Oh my gosh you really are sweating...well...I'm not even going to touch you." When I have my own patients (I am going to attend the University of Utah Medical School this fall) I would hope I would offer a paper towel...or even help the patient swab the sweat from their brow. As a doctor, I am sure Slack has come into contact with more disgusting things than the sweat of a 24-year-old with good personal hygiene. She could even have put on latex gloves. And you know...I didn't feel good at all...I really needed some encouragement and some compassionate bedside manner!!

2) I mentioned that I had been accepted to medical school. She said, "Well you're life is about to end isn't it?" I though there would be some inherent encouragement and optimism among doctors.

3) My nose started to bleed while I was in the examination room. The elevated core body heat has really increased my nosebleeds. I was really embarrassed. It was a bad one. I had really large amounts of blood coming out and I couldn't stop it at all. She saw that and just said, "Wow you really are bleeding aren't you?" Doctors have access to things like ice and other things that might have helped me. She could have helped. She just watched me as I went through about 15 tissues and eventually I ended up just ramming one right into my nostril. She left after ordering a strep culture and left the examination room door open so I could bleed for all the passers-by. I closed it myself.

4) She said that she could order bloodwork to see if it really was mononucleosis. I asked her what she thought I should do. She said she had seen two or three other patients with similar symptoms. She said that if their bloodwork came back positive for mono than she could let me know. So this lady does proxy medical care? I don't want my healthcare to me hinged on someone else's symptoms!!! She asked me if I wanted to do the test because, she said, "I don't really care if we do it." You know, I said that I didn't want to do it. I didn't want this lady to touch me...attend to me...NOTHING! I left with a bloody nose, a discouraged attitude, and a speeding ticket.

Yes, we were so over-anxious to get to the bottom of this illness (and the fact that I was feeling really gross) that we were caught speeding on 90th south and 13th west by West Jordan PD on the way to the clinic. I mean, that's totally our fault...but you can see how discouraged we were after the visit was an utter failure. All we had to show for our trip to ________was a bloody nose and a speeding ticket.

Thank you for reading this. I am just really unhappy with what happened today. It did me no good to go to ____________ today...that is not normally the case.