Am I the Only One That Worries?

Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only doctor that worries...  I fear I might do the wrong thing for a patient, and I worry that I could do things better.

I worry because I care.  I really want to do the right thing and sometimes wonder if I'm really up to it.  

I've seen and known doctors that never worry.  They never think they do the wrong thing.  When I was in med school and residency, I used to admire these doctors.  I used to revere their confidence, and longed for the day that I, too, could be so sure of myself and every decision I made treating my patients.

Well, that day, for me, has never come.  I have come to realize, however, that these doctors that are so sure of themselves are usually not very good doctors.  I think many of them have learned to hide their incompetence behind a veil of arrogance.

I asked one of my attendings that I truly respected once just before I finished residency if that feeling would ever go away...  He put his hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eye and said, "If that feeling ever goes away, that's when you really need to start worrying."

What were you taking this medicine for?

Yuck!  One other complication of being fat is that things tend to get lost in fat rolls...

I had this lady once who was so large she couldn't walk.  When you're that large, and can't get up, you certainly can't wipe your ass and clean yourself... 

While examining her, I noticed that she had a pretty severe fungal skin infection within her fat rolls, or "pannus" as we like to call it.  When I lifted up one roll, I found a prescription bottle stuck within the roll...  After peeling it out, I looked at the label and realized she hadn't told me that she was taking this medicine...  Well, actually, she hadn't taken it in about 2 months.  At least that's how long ago the prescription was filled, and it was almost full.

She didn't know what that prescription was for, or why it was prescribed to her.  Apparently she hadn't been taking it.  

What a surprise.