your bedside manner needs some work

I love my doctor. Well, I have a strong "like" for my doctor. He is very nice, kind of funny, and he doesn't put me down (you're fat, need to quit smoking, etc). I mean, he does tell me that I need to lose weight and quit smoking, but he does it in a nice way. He is great.

Yesterday I went for a follow-up appointment and instead of my usual doctor, I got his assistant. I think. He talked so fast that I wasn't sure exactly who he said he was (I think he said he is a medical student). My old doctor in Boston was affiliated with a local hospital and it wasn't uncommon to have a student following the doctor around during his visits. I don't love the idea of taking my pants off in front of a stranger and really don't like to do it in front of two strangers, but I got used to it and hoped that the students were learning whatever they needed to learn.

Back to yesterday - my doctor down here apparently does the same thing. But this student was such a jerk. He was asking me all these questions that were already in my file. I was sitting on the table and he was sitting on a chair and from my vantage point I could see my paperwork, so I kept pointing to the paperwork when he would ask me a question that was plainly in front of him (How old are you? I pointed to my age in big numbers at the top of my chart). This went on for a while. Also, he didn't just ask the questions, he barked them. And he was odd looking. He has really thick glasses, orange hair and it looked like he was trying to grow a moustache, but not having much luck. He was really irritating to me.

After he barked more questions at me, he left. For a while. I read Out Magazine and The Advocate (another reason I love this place - they have skateboarding magazines in the waiting room and gay magazines in the exam rooms!). I read an entire article on Kathy Griffin. I really love her. She is so fierce...but I am getting off topic. Finally, the door opened and this time it was my doctor. I'm sure he thought I was creepy because I had a huge smile on my face. Not only was I thrilled that the sketchy jerky student didn't return, but I was happy that my nice doctor made an appearance. He talked to me for a few minutes and sent me on my way. I hope I never have to deal with the scary student doctor again. He scares me!