IS IT TIME FOR THE DOC TO TRY OUT BEING A PATIENT?

NOTE: Dr. Michael M. Warren, while also holding the prestigeous Ashbel Smith professor of surgery position at University of Texas Medical Branch Division of Urology, has been one of my heroes for a long time. The reason is because he's a big thinker and speaks out about many subjects, from religion and philosophy to science, education and medicine.

He frequently writes a column on health care and medicine for The Galveston County Daily News. This one shows that at least Dr. Warren knows what patients think, so I asked if I could share it with Activerain readers.

Anyone Care to Tell Doc to Be Patient?

By Michael Warren

Published June 9, 2009

Nowhere in the medical-school curriculum is there a course about what it's like to be a patient. Wouldn't it be good to put every medical student into the hospital and do to the "patient" some things done to real patients?

First, we could dress the doctors in those specially tailored hospital gowns and let them walk out in the hallway with "you know what" exposed.

Then we could feed them hospital food. Give them all some of the special treatments like enemas, and put tubes everywhere. We could wait until they just fall asleep and wake them up to ask them if they want a sleeping pill. We could wake them up again to take their temperature and blood pressure.

It's interesting being wheeled about on a stretcher, so all you can see is the ceiling. We could leave them outside the X-ray room for several hours and on the hard X-ray table for a few more.

How about a good bed bath? A few shots would also be nice, and we could finish by putting them in a room full of health-care workers who wouldn't talk to them.

After that, the doctors would probably think marine boot camp a gentle experience. It would give them a new outlook on health care from the patient's point of view.

When they are finished, we will send them a bill and make them pay good money for the experience. Now that's realism. You could add more such experiences to the list, but I do have some compassion for my fellow doctors.

Those of us in the health-care business often do forget about the patient. We get so fascinated with all the new technology that we lose site of what we are supposed to be about. We are supposed to be caring human beings entrusted by you to care for the well being of all. We are well paid for this trust. Although we have spent considerable time learning how to be successful, we must always remember that it was you who allowed us to do it.

If you did not desire to spend billions of dollars each year to teach new doctors, to build "state of the art" hospitals and fill them with the latest equipment, and do all the other things necessary to develop one of the best health-care-delivery systems in the world, we would not be able to do anything but make a few simple drugs out of plants and do a little blood letting like our ancestors.

Caring is still the key for successful medical care. It is cheap; it doesn't require major technology or equipment. It doesn't even require a great deal of training. It does require some effort and time, but it's worth it. Are you getting the caring you desire? If not, fix it. As the expression goes, "the patient is always right." .

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

214 503-8563

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