When we idealize things, we tend to miss the point

Commentary. By Michael Greenberg, MD, AMNews contributor. Sept. 10, 2001.

COMMENTARY

Observations on the state of medical practice and medical life

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My colleague, John, recently told me that the idea of "full-moon" days and all the interpersonal havoc they bring is scientifically unfounded. But I believe in them.

They're worse when they occur on a Monday and more intense when it's been raining for two weeks straight. They're a complete disaster when Mercury is in retrograde and I've been cheating on my diet enough that my pants are feeling snug.

I arrived at my office with all the above factors engaged. My staff had been wrestling with problems for hours.

"Mrs. G. is furious and insists on speaking with you personally," my secretary said. Remembering the advice of my friend, Neil Baum, MD, that it's better to resolve a patient's anger than lose them, I called her. "I don't give a damn about your schedule, doctor," she said, her voice acidly insistent. "You're going to see my son tonight."

Her child's problem, it turned out, was three months old. Our evening was already stuffed with last-minute emergencies. In response to my offer to see her son the following day when we had an opening, I received a barrage of angry criticism about doctors in general and, in particular, my own abysmal lack of humanity.

"It's been like that all day," my office manager said. "I've had three calls from another impossible patient who's insisting that, despite having read and signed a waiver to the contrary, her cosmetic procedure should be submitted to her insurance company. She wants us to return her money and wait for the insurance payment." [...]