Wednesday, July 06, 2005

How do you spell "faux pas"?

Dr. Hildreth tripped, it seems...
A med student caught it on tape. Best of all, this man is secure enough in his professionalism to tell it on himself. None of us ever did anything like this, I'm sure.
Right?
Riiiight.

Nevertheless, like most members of my profession I am subject to moments of weakness, and last weekend while rounding on a patient of my partner’s I decided, in the interest of efficiency, to see her without wasting any time reading her chart. I just strolled into her room with my little list of names and diagnoses and found her resting quietly, eyes open, in no identifiable pain or suffering. This looked like a quick "how-de-doody-adios" visit to me. Not wanting to appear uncaring though I decided to break the ice with a little friendly gambit. The dialogue proceeded as follows:

"Hi, I’m Dr. Hildreth, Dr. So-and-So’s partner, here to check on you. How are you feeling?"

"Fine."

"Good! Have you been walking the halls yet?"

(staring at doctor): "I only have one leg, you know."

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