Last September as I was training to run a half-marathon, I did something to my hip/groin area. Six doctors, 1 X-ray, 60 minutes of laying inside an MRI tube with extra-loud machinery noises pounding all around me, 2 four-inch needles injected into my hip, 30 800mg tablets of pain killer, hours of crying, and 11 months later... the mystery had yet to be solved.
So today I went to the 7th doctor who just so happened to be the first female doctor. Wow, what a world of difference it was. Instead of being forced to lie on an ice-cold table for 30 minutes before the doctor even showed his face with a scratchy paper gown that covered about 1/2 of me, I was asked to put on a soft cloth gown and the doctor came in immediately! Instead of being poked and proded and being treated like I was a mute animal, she was kind and gentle and actually had genuine conversations with me. Instead of the doctor calling for the nurse to hand him a needle full of who knows what and leaving me clueless and crying, she said we could wait and see if we needed to have any more painful procedures. Instead of scheduling appointment after appointment where I would have to pay expensive bills, she asked my desires for what we should do next. When I was about at my wit's end with doctors and the entire medical profession, I finally found someone who was both helpful and caring.
Now I have not been through medical school myself, but I have gotten my master's degree in Counseling which brought up all sorts of questions about what they teach you in medical school. After 11 months of terrible experiences with doctors, I was beginning to wonder if doctors are required to do an internship with real people. Maybe I value empathy, genuineness and unconditional positive regard more than the next one (the foundation of a counseling relationship), but doctors should seriously have to take a counseling course before they graduate from med school.
Even though my hip pain was not relieved today, I feel so much better having seen a doctor who listened to my story and was genuinely concerned. She also set me up to go to physical therapy twice a week, which I hope will help me get back into running and exercising regularly.
So today I went to the 7th doctor who just so happened to be the first female doctor. Wow, what a world of difference it was. Instead of being forced to lie on an ice-cold table for 30 minutes before the doctor even showed his face with a scratchy paper gown that covered about 1/2 of me, I was asked to put on a soft cloth gown and the doctor came in immediately! Instead of being poked and proded and being treated like I was a mute animal, she was kind and gentle and actually had genuine conversations with me. Instead of the doctor calling for the nurse to hand him a needle full of who knows what and leaving me clueless and crying, she said we could wait and see if we needed to have any more painful procedures. Instead of scheduling appointment after appointment where I would have to pay expensive bills, she asked my desires for what we should do next. When I was about at my wit's end with doctors and the entire medical profession, I finally found someone who was both helpful and caring.
Now I have not been through medical school myself, but I have gotten my master's degree in Counseling which brought up all sorts of questions about what they teach you in medical school. After 11 months of terrible experiences with doctors, I was beginning to wonder if doctors are required to do an internship with real people. Maybe I value empathy, genuineness and unconditional positive regard more than the next one (the foundation of a counseling relationship), but doctors should seriously have to take a counseling course before they graduate from med school.
Even though my hip pain was not relieved today, I feel so much better having seen a doctor who listened to my story and was genuinely concerned. She also set me up to go to physical therapy twice a week, which I hope will help me get back into running and exercising regularly.
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