the dr's office

i never really have understood the dr's office.  erin went back to work today, so i had the wonderful privelege of taking my 3 kids to the dr's office.  lydia has been sick for a few days and last night she complained about her ear hurting - so we thought she might have an infection.  so i braved this cold weather and took my 3 kids with me to the doctor.

here's the part that drove me insane!  i had to wait 2 and half hours before i saw the doctor!!  they tell me that the doctor will be with me in a minute - so i wait 1 hour.  then i go up and ask how much longer, "you're next on the list" - i wait another 45 mintues.  then i get called back to a room where i wait 45 minutes longer!!!!!!  there is something wrong with this picture - i'm going to quit going to doctors and begin practicing medicine myself - get ready kids!

Comments

[Pat]

Speaking from experience, there are a few reasons why this happened. First, because it's Monday. When kids get sick over a weekend, parents wait till Monday and the doctor's office tries to fit everyone in which causes the office to be way overbooked and all appointments to run late. Second, it could be that your specific doctor doesn't like to tell people no, you have to wait till Tuesday for an appointment, hence everyone is there on the same day and no one gets the attention they deserve. Third, believe it or not, there may have been quite a few 'walk-ins.' Yes there is a lovely group of individuals who seem to think they don't need an appointment because they are better than the rest of us. But look at it on the bright side - you could be in Canada where the wait to just see the doctor is measured in days or weeks and not just in hours! It does stink when we have to wait more than a half hour but we're still a LOT better off than most.

[metcalf]

hi pat, i speculated many of these reasons for my wait as well, however, i still feel the system is flawed...and a bit nebulous. i mean, why not tell me that as i wait FOREVER! it reminded me of traffic jams cuz they rarely makes sense either...stop and go, stop and go, then it picks up momentum out of nowhere. i speculate, but the reasons for the jam doesn't matter to me - i just want to get where i'm going - "get out of my way people!" just like at the doctor's office :)