Several weeks back, in the middle of my latest meltdown, I called Dr. Lee's office after hours.
That, of course, meant that my call would be returned by the doctor on call, who, in this case, was Dr. Tolman. Sadly, Dr. Tolman and I have a history, and it's not a pleasant one, but that's not what I'm writing about today. The doctor did not return my call that evening.
I called again the following morning and left a second message with the operator. He did call me back eventually, and I'm not going to go into the ins and outs of that conversation, either, although I have the notes.
When I asked why Dr. Tolman had not returned my call on Friday night, rather than answering directly, he told me it was only a COURTESY for oncologists/doctors (I'm not sure which brotherhood he was speaking for) to return patients' phone calls after hours.
Have you ever heard that one before? I never have.
What about your doctor(s)? Do they return your phone calls? Or have a nurse call you to find out what the problem is?
I'm still not over this one. A courtesy to return my phone call when I have a medical problem? So glad this man is NOT my doctor, even though I have to talk to him occasionally (about twice a year).
@ jeanne marie sather 2013.
My husband is not an onc dr, but when he's on call, he's on call. It's a rare night on call when we aren't awakened by his pager and he returns the call immediately. Doesn't matter if it's from another dr or a patient.
Posted by: Kim Carter | January 11, 2013 at 05:21 PM
Courtesy? Gee, I hope none of his patients have the "discourtesy" to drop dead in the middle of the night because they thought they might be having an issue. But, since they didn't go to medical school and relying on someone that did, they think they are fine or their DOCTOR would have called back.
Posted by: Susan | January 11, 2013 at 07:12 PM
What a dick. He should transfer to research where his only patients reside in petrie dishes.
Posted by: jen | January 15, 2013 at 07:04 PM