I find myself quoting from the Laws of the Dinosaur more than usual of late, so I thought it would be fun to give some real-life examples of the applications of some of them:
From the email, a doc named Hashimoto (who isn’t an endocrinologist; he tells me the name is as common as “Jones”; good thing the eponymous condition was first described in Japan; doesn’t “Jones’ thyroiditis” sound boring?):
Don’t you hate it when a patient calls for an “emergency” appointment for a boil, you tell them to come right now, and then they tell you they can’t come in until tomorrow!!!
Eleventh Law: Poor planning on your part is not an emergency on my part.
Patient I saw this week with hypertension and hyperlipidemia who has coronary disease for which he has already had stents placed, about why he only takes his Lipitor off and on:
But I feel fine.
Second Law: It is impossible to make an asymptomatic patient feel better.
Teenager with poorly controlled diabetes:
I know what I have to do. I just have to do it.
Tenth Law: “Simple” and “Easy” are not necessarily the same.
And finally, regarding the other 85% of the patients I saw this week with colds, viral syndromes, gastroenteridities, sinus and ear infections (mostly viral) and bronchitis (almost all viral) there is first and foremost, this:
First Law: The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature takes its course.
And for the record, I can be very amusing indeed.
