My first blog post for this awesome new website was titled “Pain-in-the-Ass Patients”. This was a subject I felt I had become far too acquainted with and needed to give docs and students in our field my insight on. However, I also recently realized that it would totally not be fair to skip writing a post about those out-of-this-world “perfect patients”.
While pain-in-the-ass patients can cause your days to suck, and your boundaries and growing edges to be challenged, there are also many wonderful patients who can uplift you and remind you of why you do what you do.
I find that my “favorite patients” (I know, I’m not supposed to say that) have threads of commonalities. They tend to be, for one, very responsive to care. There are some people who just respond instantly or always positively to your care. They experience immediate pain relief, are in better spirits, and praise you as you walk on water after their appointment. I have also noted that good-fit patients express gratitude for you. They express gratitude not only for your treatment, but for your knowledge, your time, your listening, your caring nature, your choice of clothing that day, that new soap you got for the bathroom, and the list goes on. They do not try to dictate their treatment to you. They trust you and your expertise. Another quality of perfect patients? They respect you. They’re on time for appointments, they’re happy to pay your fees, they respect your boundaries and when you say “no”, and they make sure you’re taking care of yourself as well. Perfect patients treat your office staff and other patients in the office well. With perfect patients, it’s almost as if it’s a mutually beneficial relationship. They receive the healing magic of your craft, and you receive their thanks and joy. These patients always leave me thinking, “This is why I got into this field.”
The longer one is in practice, the easier it becomes to spot the patients that will be the best fit vs the patients that won’t. This will allow you to begin to choose and encourage the ones who will be a good fit to visit the practice, while also allowing you to gently direct the ones who will not be a good fit in a different direction.
It’s my belief that both pain-in-the-ass patients and perfect patients shape us into the best doctor that we can be. One challenges us and the other reinforces us. We need both.
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