When the Doctor Is a Patient - Fear, Frustration... But Still...

Twenty years ago, William Hurt starred in a movie called "The Doctor," about a physician who experienced the other side of medicine as a cancer patient himself.  He learned that all his arrogant assumptions about being a patient were entirely misguided and by the end of the movie, he was insisting that his residents, (still students), experience the patient side of medicine, too.

Today's version of "The Doctor" is an article published recently in  the Journal of Participatory Medicine.  Shared by Dr. Itzhak Brook, it is his story of being a neck cancer patient and learning, firsthand, the importance - and the difficulty -  of advocating for himself.  Twenty years later, this doctor found out that patients' experiences have grown even more challenging.

From his frustrations and fears, to the arrogance of the doctors who were tasked with helping him, to medical errors and unsanitary procedures, to lack of knowledge about his options - Dr. Brook's experience was the closest I have ever read to what a "real" patient  - a non-medically trained one - experiences.

An excerpt:

Some of the surgeons and many of the residents were very caring, attentive, and compassionate. However, there were demoralizing instances of physicians with a rushed and impatient attitude. I also encountered a few abrasive and downright rude physicians. On one occasion, I asked a senior resident to clean my obstructed tracheotomy tube. He reluctantly flushed it using tap water rather than the sterile cleaning kit that was routinely used for this purpose. The tube he wanted to place back into my trachea was still dirty, and when I asked him to use the kit and brush the mucus out, he abrasively responded, "We call the shots here," and left my room. I felt humiliated, helpless, and angry at being treated in this fashion.

In fact, his experience was so bad and so dangerous, that he concludes:

All of these events made me realize that a hospital is not a safe place for patients. Most patients lack medical education and thus may not recognize, let alone feel that they are able to prevent errors in their care. My experiences taught me that a dedicated patient advocate such as a family member or a friend is desirable for all hospitalized patients.

I truly appreciate Dr. Brook coming forward with his story and sharing it in the Journal, because his colleagues may actually read it, and better understand the experience of patients.

I fear, however,  that while we patients will embrace his story and say "Yes!  This is similar to our experiences, too!"  ... too many professionals will dismiss it believing they would never act that way, or their institutions would never treat a patient with such disregard.  (Little do they understand....)

Further, I remind you, that this was the experience of a physician, who was held in much higher regard by his fellow doctors than patients generally are.  Dr. Brook describes being treated like a second-class citizen, yet he was treated far better than he would have been, had he not had that "Dr." in front of his name.

I suggest you read Dr. Brook's narrative and see how much of it sounds just like yours - or even how much of it is different. Share your comments with us here.

•  How to Be an Empowered Patient

• How to Deal with an Arrogant Doctor

•  How to Find or Choose a Patient Advocate

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Agree? Disagree?
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