I've just finished reading Dr. Nancy Snyderman's "Medical Myths." If you're not familiar, Dr. Snyderman is the health correspondent for one of the major television networks. Truth be told, I did not know this before starting her book; probably b/c I usually watch cable news. Anyway, I digress...
Dr. Snyderman told a story I think we should all heed. As a young med student in Omaha, Nebraska, a woman came into the emergency room at the teaching hospital where Snyderman was working. The female patient was middle aged and appeared healthy, for the most part. The patient filled out her paperwork, waited in the ER waiting room until she finally got her turn with the ER doc.
When the female patient spoke with the doc as the students looked on, she complained of the feel of ice in her back as she inhaled. A few other symptoms were discussed, but none were the classic symptoms of heart attack, stroke, diabetes and the woman had suffered no trauma. The physician asked the students what a possible diagnosis may be. Students called out several possibilities, but the doc dismissed all of them and said quietly, "She could just be hysterical."
Simply put, this doc thought the woman was a hypochondriac, or crazy, or attention seeking. The catch all phrase of "hysterical" was primarily used for women, further reinforcing the stereotype of women as unreasonable and afraid of everything (aren't you glad we've come a little further than that in society?) The ER doc gave the woman some Rolaids and the name of a gastro specialist then released her from the ER. The woman walked out of the hospital and dropped dead of a heart attack in the hospital parking lot.
What a fantastic teacher! And no, I'm not kidding! Is this a horrible tragedy? Most certainly it was. But, what a fabulous time for students to always know to be cognisant of symptoms...and not to disregard patient complaints as nothing IF those complaints don't fit a pattern.
Have you ever known someone like this ER doc? While there's a sick part of me that takes pleasure in knowing this doc had to eat a whole flock of crows, and while it wasn't his intention, he taught a fabulous, FABULOUS lesson. I'm sure many of us can think back to someone we disliked or disagreed with. I sure can think of a few! If you're like me, you may have even made a vow to do everything NOT to be like that person. I've gotta bet that Dr. Snyderman made that vow, too. It's certainly not worth the death of a medical mistake, but the lesson changed Dr. Snyderman. And she's hopefully inspired and influenced docs along the way...I know that reading "Medical Myths" certainly gave me a lot to think about.
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