Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Mary's Desk, January 3, 2012

Mary: "Dr. Grumpy's office, this is Mary."

Mr. Vertebrae: "Yeah, I have an appointment with Dr. Grumpy on Thursday, and am trying to decide if I should come in."

Mary: "Okay, are you still having problems?"

Mr. Vertebrae: "Yeah, but I don't know if it's worth the drive. What do you think?"

Mary: "Well, I recommend you come in, but I can't make that decision for you."

Mr. Vertebrae: "Well, I'm just not sure... What do you think? Don't you have a medical degree?"

Mary: "No, sir, I'm his secretary. I have a high school degree."

Mr. Vertebrae: "A high school degree? And you work at a doctor's office?"

Mary: "Sir, you'd be seeing Dr. Grumpy, not me, and he's a board-certified..."

Mr. Vertebrae: "Just cancel the appointment. I'm going to an office with qualified staff."

23 comments:

Haven said...

Wow, just wow. That's so freaking rude.

Anonymous said...

lol.......his loss!

~Francine

skidmark said...

So in order to answer the phone and figure out how to keep two people from being almost nekkid in those silly little gowns in the same room at the same time, Mary needs a medical degree? And all Dr. Grumpy has is a yak-herding certificate he got out of a cereal box?

stay safe.

C said...

Brilliant, and I'm sure the patient is a rocket scientist.

Anonymous said...

Just have Mary ask if patients like this meet a minimum educational level before they are admitted. Actually, if this was policy, think of the time you'd have!

Faith said...

Oh, that is so not cool. I am pissed on Mary's behalf right now! Jeezy, what is WRONG with people???

ERP said...

Holy crap.

bobbie said...

Mary: I have a PhD in handling a$$-holes like you...

Doris said...

What a tool...and a broken one, at that.

>:p

Packer said...

I think this stuff has become epidemic , sadly.

StaudtCJ said...

I'm inclined to think that the patient was looking for the teensiest tiniest excuse to get out of the appointment without making it be the patient's fault, and I'm sorry Mary got caught in the crossfire. I've met people like this in the past. They go around looking for other people to give them excuses to not do something they don't want to do, instead of just making a decision and owning up to it. Hopefully that was the absolute worst thing Mary had to deal with all day.

RehabRN said...

Grumpy:

Lemme guess...nitwit didn't make it out of high school.

Just call him a snob...of any sort.

Go Mary! You don't need a PhD, girl, you need a medal for combat, I do believe.

From the nurse who loves staff who actually can DO a job, degree or not.

I give you 5 stars!

RehabRN

Anonymous said...

You did not need that pt. He may need you, however.

Anonymous said...

Mary: "Degrees are a dime a dozen, it's common sense that is expensive." So said by the CEO of a major construction company in the 1960s.

Candice said...

I would have thanked him profusely because I generally dislike dealing with assholes in person.

Loren Pechtel said...

I think StaudtCJ nailed it.

vegakitty said...

Back when I worked as a receptionist in a physical therapy clinic I had someone ask me what I thought their pain was. I said that I wasn't qualified to give a medical opinion, as I was a very good secretary but only a high school graduate. Their response: "Then what good are you?"
Gee, thanks. Besides, having credentials doesn't give a person common sense.

Mary, the Doc values you immensely, if he hasn't already told you. And if he has he's a wise man.

History Doc said...

I think I am overtrained to be office staff, personally.

CathRN said...

Bullet. Dodged.

Anonymous said...

I agree with CathRN, you don't want a patient who's rude to Mary.

Nekura said...

Even better, she should have said: "I have a masters in (insert liberal arts diploma here).

Anonymous said...

Wow. What qualification does he expect office staff to have?

Renée said...

I'm a medical receptionist and my doctor let a family of three yell right in my face about how stupid I was for asking them to pay their copays. I wish I had a boss like you!

 
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