By psychedout - 10/08/2009 22:48 - United States

Today, a patient was late for a psychiatry appointment, after having missed his previous two. I am the medical student on the team that was supposed to do his assessment. I said, "You snooze, you lose." Everyone stopped and looked at me. Apparently, he missed them because he has narcolepsy. FML
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Top comments

Lia_Mackenzie 4

Yeeeeeeeeaaaaahh, you're the kind of person I fear achieving a medical degree. ...You DO know you're allowed to read (and pay attention to) the case files...right?

50 1
juche 3

Wow, next time, read the patient's chart before going to meet with him. If we nursing students can do it, surely you medical students can do it too.

38 0

Comments

Lillith_fml 5

YDi for not reading patients notes before actually seeing them. Good luck, 'doctor'.

17 7
Laaaaaauura 0

Medical student, about to do his ASSESSMENT. Meaning, he doesn't know about the guy yet.

8 2
a_pawson9291 0

still should've looked at the patient's chart!

11 2
DameGreyWulf 0

Some doctor.... and what if it turned out he'd killed himself or been seriously injured? But really, why didn't you know he was a narcoleptic? Shouldn't somebody have told you, or shouldn't you have looked it up, or something?

15 4
Lillith_fml 5

of course he should have known it. First of all, reading patients notes before examining them saves time during the actual examination, especially if it is a follow-up (which it is in this case). Secondly, it is totally unprofessional to joke like that.

4 0
curryndricegirll 0

he said that he'd missed the last two appointments. i really doubt he was in an accident three times. i work in a free clinic, and even there if you don't show up that many times, they stop referring you to any doctors, which was the case here. it's not his fault, it was just a bad choice of words.

2 2
kal3314 0

I agree. The poor guy says, "apparently" meaning he had no idea, and a lot of times students are thrown into these situations and given a few minutes to learn about their next patient. I totally agree, that sucks. What irony, though.

3 2
DameGreyWulf 0

Well, no, what I meant is that he shouldn't just assume the patient was missing the appointments on purpose, especially if he's becoming a doctor.

3 1
letitbe56 0

Agreed, especially since it's a psych patient. Who assumes that a psych patient missed appointments because they were lazy? He could be manic or psychotic, he could have been arrested, he could be too depressed to get out of bed...I'm sure it's very common for psych patients to miss appointments due to their disorder. The OP should be more sensitive about it.

7 0
jwsmiths 1

Ahhhh new third year medical students.

3 0
Maxine17 8

Oooooooooooh, bet he was mad.Or asleep.

4 0
Lia_Mackenzie 4

Yeeeeeeeeaaaaahh, you're the kind of person I fear achieving a medical degree. ...You DO know you're allowed to read (and pay attention to) the case files...right?

50 1
princesspinky 0

HHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

1 4
Bullshet 0

As a future doctor you should act a little more professional.

12 1
curryndricegirll 0

I don't want to sound like a complete douche, but it kind of is the patient's fault for not showing up twice and coming late the third. I really doubt anything happened so that he couldn't come THAT many times. The doctor was just really unlucky that the guy was coming in for a narcolepsy. Technically, after a while, you can refuse them service.

7 11
rotf_coaster_9 0

you do know that narcolepsy is a syndrome which causes one to fall asleep at innapropriate times during the day and not be able to sleep through the night? it also causes the dreaming state to occur 20 minutes faster than it normally would (after ten minutes rather than a half hour)

8 1
repyourcliche 0

#27, you have actually surpassed the level of idiocy I thought possible. I mean, what are you even on about? Service refusal because he has an uncontrollable syndrome? When you talk, do German subtitles come up, or...?

12 4
FarSide 22

You are a douche and an enema for taking such a position.

2 3
curryndricegirll 0

I don't come up with the policies, but they can literally say that if you don't show up, they stop referring you. I'm not saying that I agree with it, but a lot of places have that rule. I take back that it was the patient's fault, but it certainly isn't the doctor's either.

7 4
wut_fml 0

It's true that they can refuse service, but you can't say it's the patient's fault when the very disorder he is trying to receive treatment for is what's causing him to miss appointments. The doctors then have to work with the patient to find a way to make sure he shows up. The problem with narcolepsy is that you can't help it. Even if you don't want to fall asleep, you can't stop it because you feel so exhausted. Your body exerts on you this heavy pressure to fall asleep, to the point where you are unable to resist. I'm sure most people have experienced that kind of exhaustion at least once before - imagine feeling it every day. I have narcolepsy, and it sucks ass, and my case is only mild. The patient probably never meant to miss appointments, but he just couldn't control his inability to stay awake.

12 1