Why I Blog
Posted by Dr. Cason on Monday, May 26th, 2008
Some of you may be wondering why I’m starting this up again. You’d think I should be happy being a pediatrician right? Why spend all that extra time blogging and writing when you could see an extra 200 patients a week?
The truth is I’ve done it and it didn’t work. I’ve worked 12 hours days and been on call every night and rounded at the hospital every day. What happened was I became exhausted. We were churning and burning. My colleagues boasted about seeing 45 patients a day. We talked about efficiency and reimbursement. Doctors weren’t meant to see a cattle call of patients. We’re only human and after a while we just can’t keep up. I didn’t go into medicine to see a huge amount of patients. I went into it to heal children and connect with families.
Last week a patient said he dreaded going to the health department to check out his son who may have active TB. Oh, he knows that he must follow protocol but it seems that the health department is overrun with patients and they just move ‘em in and move ‘em out. He said that they’d lost their Midas touch.
A large part of practicing pediatrics for me means education. I like to let patients know what I’m thinking and why I chose to prescribe that antibiotic or not. Medicine used to be very paternalistic. What the doc says goes. This isn’t so anymore. Increasingly parents are coming in with a diagnosis and expectations that accompany it.
DrCason.org is about helping change the way parents and pediatricians communicate. For too long there has been a division between the medical professionals and their patients.
I am the pediatrician next door. If you lived next to me you’d get a peek into my world. You could come over and ask my opinion as a mother and a doctor. We’d laugh about the kids and talk about dinner.
That’s why I see patients in the morning and then blog the rest of the time. I have a dream… (more about that later).
What about you?
Do you like the doctor to explain to you what’s going on?
What do you think about the 10-15 minutes allotted your child?
Does your pediatrician connect with you?
What would you tell your pediatrician?
Filed in My Life |
Wow.
I’d love to have a paediatrician like you.
My blog is full of frustrations with my daughter’s doctors.
I don’t even know where to start.
Umm, I’d ask my paed to listen to the parents and don’t belittle their concerns.
Our paed is young and just getting started. We like him, he’s a really nice person but sometimes it feels like he blows off our worries and our concerns.
Also, I really like to feel as though I am on some equal ground with someone who is going to be touching my children.
This is a fantastic post!
tiffs last blog post..So not cool.
One of the reasons that I chose a solo practicioner for my kids was that I felt that there would be less in and out pressure during the appointment. I love to have doctors explain what is going on, I am very curious by nature and it just seems natural to me that I would want to know everything about what was going on medically with my kids. I have learned that my attitude is not as common as I would have hoped.
My eldest has a heart defect and I learned everything about his defect. I have also been very involved with things like doing his INR tests at home and NG tube feedings when he was a baby. Sure it was hard to have to do thses things for him, but it was worth it to me in the time I saved and so that my son would learn that I cared about him enough to do something that was so improtant for his health.
I loved our peditrician (we just moved so we are in transistion) he was very good about reassuring me that I was being a good mom. He was also very willing to interact with the kids and did not ignore them like some of the doctor’s that took care of my eldest son did (they did not last long since I did not feel like I had to put up with that).
Awesome Moms last blog post..You never can tell
I really like my pediatrician. He will sit down and take time with me and tell me why he is choosing one antibiotic over another, and is always very thorough. He even called us at home to tell us that our son did, in fact, have shigella like I suspected (that is a long story!)
But I still plan to come back and see what you have to say!! I think it is awesome that you want to educate others and not just see tons of patients.
Christis last blog post..Did you have a nice weekend?
Tiff
It’s very common for physicians to think that moms are over reacting. I have to fight that urge because I’m very often wrong.
So I just keep asking myself- If I were that mom- what would I want to hear? I can’t go wrong with this because I’d want to hear everything!
Awesome mom-
Very often Moms know more about their child’s diagnosis because they live it every day! I try to ask a lot of questions so I can be better prepared next time!
Christi-
That’s great he does that. I’ve had some pediatricians tell me not to think too hard in front of the patients but I’m really just letting them know what my opinion is. That way they will be more likely to adhere to our plan.
I met you back during NaBlo… I’ve followed a couple of your different sites. Good to see you’re back!!
Welcome!!!
I love my son’s pediatrician. She only works part-time and is crazy busy (like a 3 legged cat in a litter box) but she’s worth the wait.
Good information to know. I take my son back to the doctor on Friday.
Take care, and see ya soon.
Grandys last blog post..An Award for some Newbies
Hi Dr. Cason,
What a beautifully written post. It shows how caring you are. I like the fact you know what you want in life. You know you want to help others, but also have quality time with yourself and your family so you can develop into the best person you can be. What great lessons you’re teaching your own children.
All of our kids are grown, but if they were little, I’d love to have you as their pediatrician. You sound like a very concerned doctor who looks at situations from your patient’s point of view. That’s awesome
Barbara Swaffords last blog post..Blogs - The New Electronic Paper Trail
Hi Grandy!
I’m glad to be back as well! I just was talking with my husband who is an ophthalmologist and he reiterated one of the things I pointed out. He said it’s the Oh By the Way comments that are really time consuming and he really wished that people would say it earlier in the visit or make another appointment. A physician really can’t do it justice to cram it in at the end of the visit and both parties get frustrated.
I look forward to seeing more of you at your blog. And mine too! Your welcome anytime.
Barbara-
Thank you for the kind words. Of all blogs about blogs I really like yours! You have such a great way of connecting with people that I hope to learn from! I put in CommentLuv because of you!
Anyone reading this- go check out Barbara Swafford at http://bloggingwithoutablog.com . You’ll be glad you did.
I wish you could be my son’s pediatrician!!! I’m in the process of finding a new one because I’m just not happy with our current one. I’ve caught her lying to me, for one. Not about anything related to my son’s health, but still. (Lance opened a drawer in the exam room and there were a bunch of loose speculums (is that the right word? I’m talking about the thing the GYN uses to open you up.) Anyway, when I asked her why they were there, she said “oh, those are sanitary devices and don’t need to be kept individually wrapped.) Sure. Like I’m gonna believe THAT. The nurse gave me a different explanation of why those were there.
Also, when I took him in to have his burn checked out she said I should not keep it covered with a band-aid. Um, he’s a toddler, and when he sees something strange on his finger, he’s going to bite it off. And that’s what he did. He bit off the blister, now leaving it open. So I’m keeping it covered with a band aid.
I keep leaving you the longest comments. Sorry!
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