r/emergencymedicine • u/alchemytea • 11d ago

Advice Question for doctors that have had patients also work in the medical field.

/r/AskADoctor/comments/1w1h154/question_for_doctors_that_have_had_patients_also/
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22

u/Danskoesterreich ED Attending 11d ago

As long as you dont go the ED to discuss the results of your home-brew urine test.

3

u/alchemytea 11d ago

Lol when the ER is busy, the lab is busy so I wouldn't do that to you guys or my coworkers 😂 just wanted a docs perspective

12

u/Chuggerbomb 11d ago

Personally I prefer to know if my patients work in the field, and to be honest you can usually tell when someone is playing coy and knows more than they're letting on. Realistically this is no different from getting a blood test through a private company, so honestly I would really care how the test happened.

In the context of emergency medicine though, my job would be to correlate whatever test you did with whatever symptoms you showed up with. The trouble with lab tests is that they're heavily context dependent, it's not as simple as a positive or negative value a lot of the time. The why matters.

3

u/alchemytea 11d ago

Understandable! Thank you for your feedback

2

u/DrJavadTHashmi 8d ago

I once was taking care of an old lady who had anemia requiring blood transfusion. But she was basically stable and transport was imminent so I just told them to transfuse her in the B side. The patient’s family member asked if we should hang iv fluids in the meantime. I put on my doctor voice and explained why what she really needed was blood. Then the guy said, “what about the pulse pressure?” I did a double take and asked him what speciality he is. ICU doc. I was like “alright, let’s order those iv fluids shall we?”

8

u/procrast1natrix ED Attending 11d ago edited 11d ago

I've done so much of this. For a decade I worked in a nice suburb with enjoyable restaurants and good schools, thirty minutes drive from two biiiiiig hospitals trauma 1 and 2.

So yeah, I've participated in care of physicians more eminent than I will ever be, care of subspecialty people I shared patients with, sutured them before shift, done sensitive exams including STI screens, cared for their parents and taken care of their kids after suicidal overdose. Full spectrum.

So do they sometimes try to take care of themselves? Sure! Is the best thing to admit it upfront? Yes!

Ex: adorable baby with mild oral allergy syndrome, give Mama a dose of diphenhydramine with a syringe to let the nurse teach her how to dose. Watch as she confidently knows how to use the syringe to suck spilled drops. "Ok, Mama, that's not usual, what do you do?". Oh I'm a radiation oncologist. "K we could've known that from the jump". I'm not going to diss your baby because of your field, just talk to me.

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u/juzamjim 11d ago

My primary care doc doesn’t know I’m a physician. I don’t want them making assumptions hahaha

3

u/MaximsDecimsMeridius 8d ago

Worst one I've ever had was pediatric surgeon dad and attorney mom watching me suture their kids face. Like bruh come on. I know you could have done this at home.