It's understandable when you are in the academic medicine environment to expect a certain level of pimping. I've done my fair share of griping on this blog about the questions I've received as a medical student, but in all honesty things haven't been too bad. When you exit the academic world and escape into real life, however, you tend to let your guard down. Especially when you or your family member is now a patient.
My wife needed to have a minor surgical procedure performed and was undergoing general anesthesia for the operation. I, the loyal husband that I am, was waiting by wife's side in pre-op and inevitably the surgeon came by to do the final pre-op check and asked me what I did for a living.
Surgeon: (lighting up like he just found his next hit) "Ah, so you're a medical student! What are you interested in?"
Me: "Well, I'm still trying to decide. I like peds a lot."
Surgeon: "Well, try to stop liking that. There is no money in it."
Me: "Okay..."
Surgeon: "So I'm currently injecting your wife with Versed, you know, midazolam. Then we will give her some propofol for induction."
Me: (feeling he is about to go deeper with this) "Alright..."
Surgeon: "You remember your pharmacology?"
Me: (No freaking way is this guy about to pimp me as he is about to induce my own wife) Yes...
Surgeon: "Well, what is the mechanism of action of Midazolam?"
Me:(Are you freaking kidding me?!?) That's evading me...
Surgeon: "Well, it acts on the GABA receptor."
Me: "Ah, yes, of course."
Wife: (looking off into the distance) "Is this what being high is like..."
Me: "Yes, sweetheart."
So, in the future, whenever I'm asked what I do, I am going to say that I'm an accountant. Because you never know where a pimp addict may be lurking. And the surgery went fine, in case anyone was wondering.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Thats priceless! Glad to hear it went well.
ReplyDeleteThere are family docs and pediatricians here in buffalo NY (not a rich city by any means) who make 200-300K per year because they have very well run private practices. It really all depends on how you set up your practice (# of PAs, staff, etc), how efficient you are, and billing properly. Ask around with the other med students - one of them has to know a good pediatrician's office in the area that you can observe. That way you'll know what elements to have in your own.
ReplyDeleteI accompanied my grandmother to the hospital a couple of weeks ago and was afraid of being pimped. Luckily I wasn't! :)
hahaha love it
ReplyDeletewow! I'm glad the procedure went well!
ReplyDeleteThat is a douche if I had ever heard of one.
ReplyDeleteJust got pimped on pharyngeal muscles during a visit to my doctor. Do they seriously think it's appropriate to quiz me when I'M THE PATIENT?...
ReplyDeleteMy stepfather is a pediatrician and the man has a "money drawer" in the kitchen. Filled with money. For people to take if they need to pay a delivery guy or go shopping or buy some diamond earrings. Seriously, I feel like he's the only person in American who carries around $50 bills. So chin up, man. If you like peds, you'll be good at it, and if you're good at it, the money will come.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I definitely know about off-hours pimping. Right after first term, I was accompanying my dad to the doctor and got asked question after question. I had been home at least a month, and after a month of daytime TV and mindless web-surfing, the brain goes a little soft. When you get a really enthusiastic doctor, though, sometimes they will take their time and be extra-nice. That has happened once. Now I tell my father, "DO NOT MENTION MEDICAL SCHOOL."