August 2008 - the Parklander

PET TALK
By Glenn Kalick, DVM
Having a child with special medical needs teaches you a few lessons. It
teaches you to look at the cup as always being half-full. It teaches you to
appreciate people who help you whether it is their job or out of the goodness
of their heart. They spend their valuable time helping your family. It also
teaches you patience. Any parent that has a child or takes care of an elderly
parent knows what it is like to wait for hours at a hospital or in a physician’s
waiting room. The 9 a.m. appointment gets you into the exam room by
10:15 and seen by the physician by 11:40. They know about waiting for
hours in an emergency room and watch knowingly as the receptionist
shrugs her shoulders and says that the doctor is a little backed up.
One day I was waiting with my family for a specialist in Miami. The
experienced “waiting room parent” has all the necessary “tools”— drinks,
snacks, tissues, a Game Boy, multiple games, a charger for the Game Boy,
a book for the parent, cell phone (fully charged), medical records, and a
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112 AUGUST 2008
Patience
cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee. I was sitting next to a Mom who was
unbelievably under prepared for her wait. I mean— she didn’t bring
anything. She rushed to get to the appointment with no idea that this was
an all day event. After about 15 minutes of listening to her go on about the
situation with her friend loudly on her cell phone and repeatedly telling
her child to be quiet, I asked her son if he wanted to play with our extra
Game Boy. She politely told me that he doesn’t play those games and that
she wouldn’t be here much longer. Knowing that she came in after me, I
told her to get comfortable, she would be here for a while.
She felt her time was worth more than this and said she was going to
complain to the receptionist and the doctor. I asked her why she was here.
She said her pediatrician had recommended this specialist to her as the best.
I agreed. He is the best. The wait is always long, but you never feel rushed
with him in the examination room. When it comes to my child’s health, I
know every great specialist on the Atlantic Coast. However, that didn’t
pacify her and she went up to speak to the receptionist.The receptionist told
her that the doctor was running a little behind and she would call her when
it was her turn. She sat down, frustrated, and told me that doctors just don’t
know how to schedule their appointments. She said that in her line of work,
the banking business, people wouldn’t stand for it and would walk out the
door. I empathized with her. I told her that I was a veterinarian, that I don’t
double book, and when I am running behind I always enter the room
apologizing for the wait. I also added that I always give the client my
undivided attention and my patient the best examination that I can. But
people need to understand that sometimes unexpected emergencies need to
be treated first.
Interestingly, she told me that she once walked out of a veterinarian’s office
because he was running late. She told me that she was “squeezed” in one
Friday night at 5 p.m. with her cat, and the receptionist, after making her fill
out all of the paperwork, told her that the doctor was running a little behind.
She asked the receptionist whether they double booked and was told that
they didn’t. She told me that there were three or four more animals still in
the lobby when she arrived and that she was the last appointment of the day.
The receptionist said that she called everyone before they came to the
appointment and told them that the doctor was running late because of an
emergency surgery. She said she would have called her, but because she was
a new client, she didn’t have her phone number. I asked her why she left her
prior veterinarian. She said that the cat was not getting any better and all of
her friends recommended this particular vet in Coral Springs.
I then reviewed the whole story in my mind. She owns a cat that she took
to a recommended veterinarian that “squeezed” her in as the last
appointment before the weekend. The receptionist apologized for the
doctor running late and told her that, in the future, she would call her if
the doctor was running late and hadn’t then because she was a new client
and she didn’t have her phone number yet. The doctor was performing
emergency surgery on a Friday night and would probably have to stay long
hours after closing to see all of the appointments and take care of the
patient after surgery. I thought for a moment and then asked her if the
receptionist had offered her a soda while she waited. Curiously, she said,
“yes, how do you know?” I told her, “I’m the vet that you walked out on.
Why don’t you sit back and relax, you will be here for awhile.”
Glenn Kalick DVM is the director of Brookside Animal Hospital in Coral
Springs. Email him at kalick@theparklander.com.