Dear Mr. Healthcare Provider…sir…

I am told I am a nuisance. I am rarely respected, unless given a chance to shine. At your beckon call, subject to your rules, your whims, your tantrums, your ego. And that’s fine… I can, and do, live with it. I think your position commands some degree of respect, and regardless of how you treat me, I will respect you.

That being said…

WHAT THE $%@* is your problem??!!

I know your ego won’t allow for this, and you probably don’t even realize, but you need us. Not for samples, but for knowledge. You see, you went to medical school and learned a lot. But in the process of cramming it all in, you missed things. You’re still missing things. You think you know it, but you don’t.

Now, am I a doctor? Absolutely not. Do I know even a fraction of the medical knowledge that you have to concern yourself with? Not even close. But you should know something. I know several classes of drugs better than you do. I know things about several drugs that you prescribe that you do not. I eat, sleep, and breathe them. If you continue to take this attitude that you are God, and won’t be taught anything, then the people you are really hurting are your patients.

Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that you write a drug for a young woman that causes 30lbs of weight gain in 2 months, because you haven’t bothered to learn about the other drug in the class that doesn’t cause weight gain. Have you done the best by that young woman that you could have?

Do. No. Harm.

Am I talking to all of you? No. The law of large numbers says that for as many doctors there are out there, some will be kind and attentive, and some of you simply won’t care. Will you take a second to consider one question? If Dr. So-and-So is “The Best in His Field”, then doesn’t that lead to there being a “Worst in His Field”?

Which are you?

And before you point at the other guy, you should know...it's you. But the good news is, if you’ll let me, I’ll make you fractionally better.

And yes, I have an ego too.