Bad Doctor

In my humble opinion, all of the doctors who I’ve worked with here are exceptional. Not every patient will like every doctor, but that’s to be expected, and most people can find a doctor that they really like. It kind of increases my confidence in the medical profession to hear how highly some patients regard their chosen doctor.

So it’s disappointing to hear about people’s bad experiences with doctors. Take my friend in the city, a gorgeous girl in her early 20s, who was sent home from work with a bad cold. She went to see a GP in her suburb, and the consult went something like this:

Young male doctor: “So when was your last PAP smear?” My friend sheepishly admitted that she’d never had one, and he offered to do one that day. (Note: most of the doctors here will offer to book a later appointment for this procedure, and the male doctors will give the patient the option of seeing a female doctor. And they never begin a consult like this). My friend was a little shocked, and firmly declined this procedure. After that he decided to finally ask, “so what brings you in here today?” My friend informed him that she felt unwell with a headache and a sore throat.

His next question? Try and guess from the choices below:

a) How long have you felt unwell?
b) Is it getting any better or worse?
c) Have you tried anything for it?
d) Are you sexually active?
e) What's your favourite colour?

You probably think I threw in the last couple for a laugh, but no, this doctor chose option D. My friend says that during the consultation, the doctor asked her a total of seven questions relating to sexual activity, when all she had was a sore throat and a cold.

He ended up prescribing her antibiotics, but as he handed over the script he told her, “I wouldn’t be in a hurry to start taking this – you’ll probably just get thrush”.

She called me a few days later to tell me about it, and then asked if I thought it was weird, from a medical student's point of view. I think it would be weird from anybody's point of view.