A short little rant about colleagues and the sad demise of professional courtesy.
Ahem.
Dear Doctor,
when I call you after seeing one of your regular patients, I am not calling to rub your nose in the fact that this client has taken their pet to me for a second opinion. As a matter of fact, I am calling you to "play nice" and talk about the case. See, it's part of a dying concept called "professional courtesy."
You should look it up. It's fascinating. Basically, it means you don't have to act like a bitch as your default when having a phone encounter with another veterinarian.
Who'd have thunk???
But I digress slightly. When I call you and introduce myself, imagine my surprise that your first name is DOCTOR! Seriously! What a coincidence that you actually became a doctor with that first name! Because I gave you my first name when I introduced myself. Again, that funny little courtesy I was mentioning earlier.
But the best part was, after I told you that I agreed with your initial diagnosis, your only response was to snidely ask if the client was going to be coming back to you.
Well... with your winning personality and great attitude, that client would be crazy not to return to you.
Sincerely,
Why do I bother trying to chew through my straps
Hardly worth the trouble is it?
ReplyDelete"When I call you and introduce myself, imagine my surprise that your first name is DOCTOR!"
ReplyDeleteWow, really? That's really tacky. When the specialist (or second opinion GP) calls, I always try to take my cue from them as to whether we're going the Dr. or first name route.
"your only response was to snidely ask if the client was going to be coming back to you"
Silly me. And here I was thinking that the goal here was to help the client and the patient..
I'd be pissed if I were you too. That's just rude.
People that resent having their clients get second opinions often do so because they are insecure. I am more than happy to send someone to other vets for a second opinion. In fact, I have a list of other vets that I welcome a second opinion from (especially the specialists) in town because want the best for the patient.
ReplyDeleteI will admit to being dismayed when a client chooses to go to Dr. Doesn't Bother to Keep up because I know my Ddx or Tx has a better chance of being dismissed. I one vet, who happened to have gone through the same parasitology class that I went through, totally get the life cycle of round worms and hook worms incorrect. He told the owner that I didn't know what I was doing and threw me under the bus...it didn't matter that I was right and consulting any parasitology text would show that. Our parasit professor would have been so disappointed.
I always call myself by my first name when talking to other DVMs. Always. I was working relief one day when the practice owner called for me. I answered the phone in my usual cheery manner, "Hey, it's [Firstname!]"
ReplyDeleteThere was a pause and an icy, "Doctor [Lastname]?"
Okay, whatever. Thank goodness I didn't call her by HER first name, as I also tend to do with colleagues. No telling what she would have done.