RUNNING INTO OBLIVION

A doctor cum blogger friend related to me an incident which prompted me to write this entry. A husband and wife (patients) sought treatment at his clinic and remarked that he looked uncannily familiar and upon epiphany, they realized that they had seen a picture of him at his blog! The couple, too, happened to be bloggers. Now, such coincidences can be utterly embarrassing especially for us doctors. Imagine having patients coming to you and say, "hey I know you! You run that so-and-so blog isn't it?"

It's a bit like being superstars and having fans stalking you up, only that you're not artists but just someone whose profession requires you to mingle with people, all kinds of them. We've read how artists loathe the idea of their fans wanting to pry into their private lives, their personal day to day activities. No doubt, we, doctors, do not run our lives glamorously, but still, we have patients who think doctors as super humans, who do not get sick as it's beneath them if we, who treat their illnesses are not immune from them either!

Once, when I was working in a relatively remote area in Penang, I managed to get one of the kampong ladies to cook for me. She was a bit daunted initially. The reason being that she had this naive notion that we, doctors ate a different kind of food to delight our palates, compared to lay-men! When I told her that I actually took rice as my staple food, she relented and it vanquished her preposterous idea!

I've had patients who upon consultation on the methods of contraception would at the end ask me whether I practice any contraception myself and what was my choice! Blimey! These people are so blunt to even think that I would divulge such a personal info to them, lest the news will spread like instant bush-fire: "do you know that Dr A uses IUCD and Dr B had just gone for a tubal ligation?" So each time I get such tactless questions, I would dodge them or just answer obtusely that I don't practice contraception and let nature takes its course!

What's worse is when a male patient puts me similar queries or making remarks that can make me awkward, like :" You've lost weight doctor, taking slimming pills eh? Reductil or Duromine? or " Look at how the doctor maintains her figure, you should follow her", a male patient telling his wife who has grown rotund through out the years I've known her as a patient.

You see, in a doctor-patient relationship, doctors are extremely privy of many of their patients' personal issues, be it health, emotional etc. As doctors, it's a medico-legal crime if we expose a patient's info in whatever form out of the four walls of our practice. On the contrary, patients are not obliged into any oath in keeping whatever info they have about their doctors, confidential.

So just imagine, if these patients of mine, get to know about this blog. Essentially , they would be reading stuffs relating to my personal feelings, opinions and routine activities which I prefer to be under wraps. Next thing you know, they'd be referring my cats by their names! So should at any point, I get patients coming in and telling me that they read my blog, I'd then seriously consider to cease blogging or blog incognito! If one day, on typing my blog's url, you get a 404 error return, you know why! I'd probably then blog as 'drWho?' , with a blog named "Running Into Oblivion"