We have several days of outpatient electives during our rotation blocks for the year. This week I’ve been bouncing around various private ophthalmology offices in the area basically shadowing the attending. For the most part, it’s like being a medical student, because the private offices are usually swamped, and there is little time to discuss cases with the attending while the patient is in the room.

Today I was at a busy retinal office pretty much observing intravitreal injections for diabetic retinopathy and wet AMD. By noontime, we had fallen about 8 patients behind schedule (that’s about 1-1.5hrs). Both the attending and I had realized that I was not getting much education out of this. Thankfully, she dismissed me to go back to the hospital, knowing that keeping me around would delay her schedule even further.

I thanked the attending and walked around the corner (marked on the diagram above).  As I was blowing my nose (I have a lingering cold), the following dialogue took place:

[I blew my nose on a tissue]

Nurse: Ha. You must be picking up at cold going around the office!

Me: Yea, I guess so. (I had never been to this office before)

[Office coordinator, with BMI around 35, storms in]

Coordinator: (Yells at me) No chatting at the nursing station! You are supposed to be with Dr. [attending's name] at all times!

Me: Is there a problem? I am blowing my nose, and I’m about to head out.

Coordinator: Where is Dr. [attending's name]?

Me: She is next door with a patient.

Coordinator: Residents are assigned to be with the doctors at all times!

At that point, I walked out and left.

I have no idea why the office worker was so furious. Firstly, residents are also “doctors”. Secondly, even if she is responsible for arranging resident schedules, she has no right to enforce arbitrary rules upon the residents. How does she benefit from making me sit through another Lucentis injection? Does she get a salary bonus if she’s able to make me follow the attending like a puppy? If I sneezed in the patient exam room, how would that reflect upon the office hygiene practices? Maybe it’s some stupid office wager they have going on…

Otherwise, the only other reason I have for her domineering attitude is that she just got high off this power trip at my expense. L-O-S-E-R.

medicine rant