Memes I'd Create for Doctor's Offices Then and Now
I enjoy being a respiratory therapist. It gives me an opportunity to connect with people with COPD and to share my knowledge with them.
Of course, I enjoy our conversations about COPD, and I also enjoy our conversations about life in general. Being a moderator for our community here and our community on Facebook gives me an opportunity to connect with people with COPD outside the work setting and is something I enjoy doing.
Because of my moderation, I am probably on Facebook more than most people. I get on first thing in the morning, on most mornings, and connect with people both here on our site and in our Facebook community.
When I’m done, I often surf Facebook for a few minutes. I don’t want to stay on there for too long, but I do like to see what is going on among my friends.
Physicians' offices are becoming less personal
I am not necessarily a big fan of memes, although I do find that I cannot stop them from popping up in my feed. However, a meme I saw this morning connected well with me and inspired this post.
The meme said, “I miss the days when you called your doctor’s office, and a real person answered the phone. Yes! Those were the days.
If you had a question, you picked up the phone, dialed, and a real person answered, and you asked your question. You waited a few minutes on hold while the secretary hunted down the doctor, and then you got your questions answered.
It was that easy. No wading through five minutes of talking to a computer voice.
Memes for remembering doctor's offices of the past
That gave me another idea for memes for remembering how some doctor's offices once were.
"I miss the days when, if you were feeling symptoms and wanted to prevent them from getting worse, you called your doctor and got in that very same day."
So, you are experiencing symptoms, and you want to be seen by your doctor. All you had to do was pick up the phone, and the secretary answered and said, “Dr. Johnson’s office.”
You would explain how you are feeling short of breath and would like to get in and be seen by your doctor pretty quickly.
That does not happen in today’s day and age. Today, you call your doctor and have to wade through the options until you finally get to the secretary who says, “The earliest we can get you in is in two weeks from now.”
“But I need to see the doctor today,” you explain. You would probably get a response close to “If you need to see a doctor right now, I suggest you go to the clinic and see the clinic’s doctor.” Or maybe even “You need to go to the emergency room.”
You more than likely say, “I don’t need to go to the emergency room. I am having early symptoms of COPD and want to see the doctor now to nip it in the bud.” But, you have no choice but to go to a doctor you do not know and who does not know you.
“I miss the days when, if you were sick, you got to see your own doctor.”
If my doctor is not available, I'm fine seeing another doctor. But, if the doctor is in the office, I'd feel better talking to him. After all, my very own doctor knows me best.
This is the person I'd feel the most comfortable with. This is the doctor who would do the best job tweaking my medicine regimen to get me feeling better.
That's not how it is nowadays for some. Today, if you are sick today and need to be seen, you will probably have no choice but to see a different doctor, such as at the clinic or in the emergency room.
Personally, I am glad those options are available. But, if my doctor is in, he's the one I want to be seen by.
That's my take on that silly Facebook meme I saw this morning. It took me back to the good ole days when doctors' offices felt more linked personally to their patients (from my experience).
What do you think? Is there anything you would add to this list? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
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