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[quote=Anonymous]Finding this post was really helpful (even though I know it was a long time ago!) - hearing that so many other women having had upsetting experiences in the health care setting made me feel less alone in this whole process.

I'm a physician, and I care for patients with cancer.  Maybe because I'm a doctor, and in a field where compassion, empathy, patience, and respect are such a huge part of what is required in my field, I have what I'm finding out are unrealistically high expectations of my own physicians and their staff.

I'm only 28 years old, but have had 2 miscarriages in the past 5 months as my husband and I are trying for our first child.  Although my doctor has been thoughtful, calm, compassionate, and extremely professional (love her - Dr. Williams at Women to Women at VHC), her staff is much less so.  The lab slips are never ready for me when I arrive; I've been hung up on when I call for an appointment; the scheduling folks are often inflexible about trying to fit me in for appointments at times when both my husband and I could make it to the office.  And this time, when a nurse called with my lab results (again, I had to call first and leave a message requesting the results before anyone called me back) to tell me my hCG was dropping (which I already knew, as I had begun miscarrying that morning), she lacked any compassion, let alone professionalism.  She told me the number, but never asked me how I was feeling, what I was going through, if I wanted to come in to see the doctor again, how to take care of myself, or asked me if I needed any prescriptions.  Thankfully I still had pain meds left over from last time (and I could have called in my own...), I knew about some of the precautions to take and what to expect, and I called back of my own volition to schedule a follow-up.  I've also started looking around for an RE and maybe a second-opinion general ob/gyn practice, despite how much I adore Dr. Williams.  Thankfully I have an unbelievably strong support network in my husband, family, and friends.  But seriously - who trained these people how to deliver bad news?  It's embarrassing, and if these were my staff, I would be looking for new ones.

Unfortunately, usually the only thing to do is to complain both directly to your physician (if the problem is with staff) and ask to speak directly with the practice manager (for staff and physicians).  Most (but not all) physicians want to know if their staff are not performing at the level that would be expected; and most physicians within a practice want to know if one of their partners or associates isn't carrying out their job.[/quote]

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