Bowman West

A Good Day for a Post--it's a long one!

I knew when I got up this morning that this would be a good post day. First let me say that it's in the '50s and I LOVE fall!

Ok, so my OB is a doc at the TTU Health Sciences Center (Andy's 2nd home) and as such is a professor there as well. One class he's in charge of is one that teaches first year med students patient interviewing skills. Well, at my last 4 week OB appt. (I see him at his private clinic across town) my doc asked if I would be willing to have my next appt. (which was this morning) at the public clinic at the health sciences center and be a volunteer patient for the med students to practice interviewing. I said sure because I thought it would be fun to see how nervous the med students were, remembering how nervous Andy was in his short white coat. Now, at one point at the beginning of my pregnancy Andy & I discussed the option of me always going to the public clinic instead of the private one across town because he would be able to just walk over from where he was in the building to be with me at my appointments. I decided against it just because the private clinic is really nice and I already knew the nurses and staff (which is what's really important). Before I discuss today's experience let me clarify that I have a B.S. and an M.A. in sociology and am working on a Ph.D so I am fully aware of my biases and prejudices and try to keep them in check but sometimes they get the best of me, which you'll note in this discussion.

So this morning--first I walk into a huge waiting room where no one looks like me. There are roughly 3 categories of people: pregnant teens (I'd say ages 14-17), women who haven't bathed or washed their clothes lately, and lastly, a combination of the first two categories. The sign in front of the large reception desk reads "Please stand behind the line and wait your turn."--I look down and see a white line of duct tape on the carpet. Ok, I can do that. It's my turn. I quickly give my name and point out that I'm a patient at the private clinic and am here as a favor to my OB. She gets my info, tries to charge me a copay (hello! I don't have to pay one, but then again they're used to medicaid patients), and tells me to take a seat. I'm eventually called back with one of the unbathed patients and we're both weighed and told to give our urine samples. Ok--so much for privacy! I felt like I was in the midst of a cattle call. The bathroom on that hall was taken so I was directed to use a bathroom on another hall, pee in a paper cup, and carry the paper cup back to the nurse's station. Here I am carrying my urine in a dixie cup through a clinic full of people--a little degrading and unsanitary don't you think? I covered it with a paper towel just to be on the safe sade. The whole time I'm thinking, "Um...I'm a patient at the private clinic, can't you tell? Shouldn't you be treating me better than everyone else? I'm just here as a favor!". I deliver the goods and am told to wait in the small waiting room. I report to yet another waiting room and another group of the same young women--many this time with unbathed kids. Forty minutes after my scheduled appt. time I'm called back, only this time I'm taken back through the main waiting room to the other side of the huge clinic where I'm telling myself, "This is where they put the 'special' patients away from the normal riff raff." A very nice nurse comes in and says hello and does blood pressure and listens for the baby's heartbeat. "You're a patient at the private clinic, right?" she asks. I confirm and note that she is much nicer than any of the other nurses or staff that I have dealt with thus far. My doc comes in (I love him. He's tiny--smaller than me--and smiley and super great) all smiles and tells me that he has four students he's bringing in. He asks how I'm doing and is a little disappointed that I'm perfect and have no complaints and suggests that we make something up so the students have to ask me more questions. We decide to go with the blood clot angle since that's been a previous issue (don't worry--it was back in 2002) and it will be totally confusing to them. They come in--they're super nervous (b/c I'm obviously very intimidating) and one is in charge of the questions. They start and my doc corrects them every 5 seconds which I think is funny. Ok, questions are over and now my doc needs to feel my belly/uterus, which is just perfect as he says. He asks if the students could feel--sure they can! So, here I am getting my belly felt by four nervous med students. It was awesome! I just pictured my precious Andy five years ago in his little coat dripping wet behind the ears trying to figure out how the heck he was ever gonna become a good doctor.

After we were done my doc told them, (his words) "Well, I should let you know that Amy's actually the wife of a physician (Andy's a physician, wow!--and apparantly an assistant professor according to his business cards!) in the Department of Pediatrics here at Tech." They laughed like they'd been tricked. I guess they really had been since I knew what the right questions were and that they weren't asking them! Anyway, the bright-eyed students proceded to ask me my opinion on how they can be good doctors. #1--Make sure you learn what you're supposed to learn so people don't end up with a dumb doctor (What do you call the med student who graduates last in his/her class? "Doctor") #2--Learn how to read your patients and tailor their care to who they are and what they need--not just as physical bodies but as social beings. Anyway, when I was done I scheduled my next appt. back at the private clinic, called Andy on my cell phone, hopped in my new car and drove around front to take Dr. Andy to lunch and left the world of public healthcare. What a funny morning. I learned two things: #1--Yep, my prejudices still exisit, #2--You get much better healthcare when you have private insurance and a husband who's in the system!

P.S. You know you've gone to a county hospital when you get a "thank you" letter everytime you pay your bill because it just doesn't happen that often with other patients!