Doctors office has cut me off because I declined an appt with a female doctor and instead asked for a male doc.

Oh lord, you caught me.

I love going to male doctors for that reason exclusively.

I have factor V leiden..a clotting disorder, I've been hospitalized twice with DVT and a pulmonary embolism. I used to get injections in my belly, I get blood tests on the regular because of the warfarin I take, I have a damaged left lung & asthma.

I go to the doctor because I have to, not because I want some important educated man to take care of me. It's not a lot of fun. It cost me a great deal of money, I'm not on welfare and I'm not milking the system.

Anyway..this thread was about an appt for my little boy, not me. He's seen the female docs at the practice, as I said, it hasn't worked out, I wanted to try a male doctor. It wasn't intended to be a jab at all female doctors.

Not a problem, I did too. I was quick to pounce because I was frustrated with the situation.

Apologies.

You have the right to request whatever doctor you want and whoever you're most comfortable with. That is your personal choice and there is nothing wrong with it. Nothing at all.

If the receptionist was rude, and you feel that you've been pushed out, I'd call the office manager and explain the situation and see if you can get a resolution.

After all, you are the customer.

If you get no resolution, I'd find another doctors office and take my business elsewhere.

And, you do not have to explain why to the office staff because frankly, it's none of their business.

You are the consumer, they are the provider. You're the customer and it's your business why you want to see a male doctor. Don't apologize for it, or offer a reason if you don't want to because it's really none of their business.

They should be friendly and accommodating to you.

Anything less then that is lack of professionalism on their part and they should be made aware of it.

I am going to call them today and ask to speak to the office manager.

I suspect the doctors would be upset that a receptionist is making decisions on who will or will not be treated based on how she feels about who you want to schedule an appt with. You have to wonder if she's done this before and just how many times she's done it.

Everyone has a preference, I didn't think it was an issue and I was surprised to see so many people here snap over my decision to ask for a male doc. It's ridiculous. I pay for it, I want my kids to be comfortable, I expect them to be treated in a certain way and if they're not I believe I have a right to ask for a new doc.

Maybe if you said I prefer Dr. Smith as opposed to this one has a vagina.

Do you think a woman can't do the same thing? Or wtf is it?

+10000

Go for it girlfriend......assert your rights. Don't let the vagina nazi's ruin your day.

you are a fucking idiot

Seems to me most of the people here are supporting you, only read one post from someone being a dick about it.

You have the right to whatever gender DR u want, excersize it

I'd probably get a woodie if a female doc was examining my junk.

I feel really uncomgortable with a male doc doing it. It seems gay.

Chill, she can see whomever she wants.

He's pissed because his gay dating thread got deleted and he got banned from what he said. He's now stalking my old threads and posting trash.

This isn't about the content of my thread. It's just a childish reaction to me not siding with him pushing his gay agenda.

Last Edited by Debauchery on 01/30/2013 07:13 AM

Males take more time off for golf.

Being serious, you may find that there is a chill wind blowing through pediatrics lately. Dire statistics follow:


One study in the journal Pediatrics found as many as 8.1 million children have no pediatrician in their area. The shortage is compounded by the lack of what's called pediatric "sub specialists". These are the doctors that treat kids with more severe medical conditions. "We have had great difficulty having our patients access sub-specialists in the last several years," Hamburger told FOX5. While the standard wait for an appointment is two weeks, a survey by the Children's Hospital Association found children who need a pediatric sub-specialist may wait seven times longer to see a doctor. There are so few specialists some patients drive hundreds of miles just to get an appointment.

Read more: [link to www.myfoxdc.com]
Follow us: @myfoxdc on Twitter | myfoxdc on Facebook

Why is no one going into pediatriacs? Why does the medical establishment no longer care about kids?

[link to www.ama-assn.org]

Shortages in pediatric specialties have been a chronic problem in the past decade, Wietecha said. Some parts of the country are worse off than others. For example, Alaska has only one pediatric neurologist.
“Demand for these kind of physicians has gone up at the same rate that we have been able to train these doctors, so we’re really treading water,” he said.

If the situation doesn’t improve, access to care for children will continue to worsen, Wietecha said. Meanwhile, the country is facing increasing rates of autism, diabetes and allergies.

“Children deserve better,” he said. “More needs to be done to ensure they’re getting the care they need, when they need it and in the right care setting.”

Quit being sexist!

I pay a doctor to provide medical care for myself and my children.

If I feel more comfortable with a male why is it a problem for you or anyone else? You're not paying for it.

May have helped if, instead of asking for a "male doctor" you asked for the doctor by name. Just saying. Not that there should have been an issue with it anyway.

Speaking from an epidemiological viewpoint, what you are seeing is a symptom.

Women traditionally end up in lower status jobs*. If a disproportionate number of women are pediatricians, then that is because pediatrics has become lower status than, say, cardiology.

So, instead of "why can't I get a male doctor?" the question should be "why do we no longer value children?"




* [link to www.ama-assn.org]

I'm going to try to explain something that a lot of you don't understand about medicine.

We are in a medical crisis in the USA. We have an aging population of very obese people. They smoked, didn't take care of themselves, didn't exercise, and now have a lot of health problems.

We have a lot of young children who are obese, don't exercise, and have type 2 diabetes only because of this and loading up with sugary drinks all day long.

We have a TON of doctors quitting. It's not worth it. They get sued and the insurance company will not back them up, but settle and it drives up premiums. It's actually a critical shortage in OB/GYN.

We have had a RN shortage since the late 70s. Folks that a 40 year shortage, and only because of Irish and Filipino nurses have we weakly stopped from collapsing.

We have a new national healthcare that will add 45 million new patients and NO NEW MEDICAL STAFF.

We have not raised young people to desire to be docs, nurses, and medical techs. The numbers are stagnant for medical school.There are no new medical schools being built. If someone wants to go to medical school from the USA, and can't get in, then they either wait in a holding pattern for two years or go to the Caribbean. It's a nutty situation.

In the midst of all that crap, patients want to chose their doctor. Folks be glad that you're seen. A doc is under no obligation to take your business.

You have every right to chose your doctor. However, they're under zero obligation to take the call. Can you chose your plumber? Sure. Does that plumber have to take the call? NOPE!

If there's a ton of people who need medical care and a handful of trained medical staff, then the time to see a physican will get longer and longer and longer. Many docs can't see any more patients.

They have lives too. Divorce is incredibly high amount medical staff because they go, "Damn, she really needs to be seen. I should go back and check on him, he was really sick in the hospital. This kid looks serious, but it's my quitting time...I'll stay and do one more...one more....one more." Meanwhile the spouses and children of docs are going, "Where is my Mom? Where is my Dad? Many docs work 120+ hours. That's 3 times what many of you work.

You expect too much, then complain about the cost. Sorry, I respect a lot of posters but you're not getting it. Wake up and welcome to reality.

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/30/2013 07:51 AM

Not under Obamacare. You have no right to make any decision about your own healthcare. After all who knows what is best for you? Certainly not you.

Before long you will not even be able to see a doctor. They will have a computer screen you based upon your complaints and it will make recommendations.

As for your child, they are a class C citizen. They are not old enough to work and produce for the greater good, so they are a drag on society.

All hail Obama!

You go by 'Debauchery' and you're complaining that something 'ain't right'. Perhaps this is the universe's way of saying, wtf OP? Maybe if your handle was 'Innocent Do-Gooder'?...


"Hi, I'm the Devil, and I just want to complain that things just aren't fair. Waah!"


Still, I sympathize with your plight. Go find yourself a male doctor, by all means!

It probably would have. I dealt with women at that office. They were horrible doctors, bedside manner was complete shit. I got tired of spending money and coming out of it feeling like my kid didn't get the treatment he should have.

People are so sensitive about everything these days and it's bullshit. I'm sure there's a large number of women that request female doctors for gyno exams, I bet there isn't an uproar over that.

Actually D, there is an uproar. Some women feel very uncomfortable with a male OB/GYN, other women prefer a man. Because of staffing issues, and because a woman patient might suddenly need the doc, then he/she might have leave or be delayed in surgery or a medical issue with post-surg or an infection, or a D&C or whatever.

With GYN, such examination most often include a nurse watching as well, something we don't for female docs examining male patients, so there's that dichotomy. It's a trust issue, and drives up expenses and means the RN can't be doing something else.

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/30/2013 08:18 AM

My handle is a joke.

His original pediatrician was a woman fyi. I loved her, she was an excellent doctor. She retired though after having children of her own.

Hope and change!

It's a very strong word,... comes with its own set of peculiarities.Maybe The Trickster doesn't know you're kidding? Universal Law is funny that way. I just ask you consider what others are seeing of you... this is all we know about you: debauchery + dracul'as daughter pic. It seems that would inherently carry some 'darkness' with it, joke or not. What if your handle, as a joke, was 'Charles Manson'? Joke or not, wouldn't that be a projection of the darkness that was already within the person to begin with? Please consider where your sense of humor is coming from, and see if it has any connection to the problems you face in your day to day life.

Sorry, I'm soapboxin'... :):):) peace

There could be 100,000 new trained and qualified doctors on the street in 4 years, if the system wasn't set up based on greed. Physician training is done at the college level, and admissions are politically controlled. Each Medical School can only accept a certain amount. It is a delicate balance not to flood the market with new physicians, just like any business.
Also, general medicine (OB/GYN, Famlily practice, internal meds) are the lowest paid doctors. Some might only make 150k a year, and have 500k in loans to pay for. But, if you don't want to spend the extra 250k or more to specialize, you will get a lot of the lower tier doctors in these general non specialized practices.

Nope. Almost. You need a Bachelors (or at least satisfy all the pre-Med requirements of extensive Biology, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics, Calculus. That takes four years.

Then you take the MCAT and pass it.

Med school is at the Graduate level, not college level (that's undergraduate work).

Then you apply for medical school with both recs from your Science and non-Science courses. Usually at least four. Many science professors actually think of themselves as gatekeepers to eliminate students here. Hard to believe, but true nonetheless.

Then the long weed out process, interviews, acceptance, and huge loans. Usually $250,000-500,000. The reason this is so expensive is that many students need money for housing for their spouses and children because it takes soooooo lonnnng. Then many end up going out of state, and hence the tuition costs are DOUBLE. That's right, you pay double!

We can't accomodate all of the people who are qualified. So many end up doing something else.

Then you do two years of Basic Sciences. Then two years of Clinical Medicine. This is the four years of medicinal school.

Then at least three years of Residency to get into Family Practice, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Dermatology. Then many specialize and do three more years. Three to Seven years of Residency.

So from college to finishing, but not including fellowships, for they can add 2-5 years, then 4+4+3 or 11 years minimum.

If the USA doesn't wake up, and continously puts people in the pipeline, then it won't equal the attrition from physicians leaving due to illness, retirement, going into research, changing careers, going into business, etc.

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/30/2013 09:06 AM

Thanks, I was generalizing. But, I'm sure there are plenty of students in college right now that have the pre-reqs and can't get in. The admission into med school is where the roadblock is.

Maybe I should say 5 years. Accept more into med school, 4 years of med and 1 year residency into general medicine. Your 3 years of residency is misleading, as most of your residency is practically paid training. Of course, standards are different everywhere.

Wrong. While residents are paid, it's $50,000 for up to 120+ hours. So it ends up being very very low pay per hour.

There is no 1 year of residency. The only two year residency I know of is some few Dermatology residencies, most are three.

Everything I posted is based upon the USA model. It can be quite different elsewhere.
[link to healthcareers.about.com]
" How Long does Medical Residency Training Last?
Medical residency is a minimum of three years for primary care physicians and some other specialties, up to five years for some surgical specialties. (Some medical specialties require additional years of fellowship training in addition to the three to five years of residency training.)

Do Residents Get Paid, and If So, How Much?
During residency training, residents are usually paid about $40,000 to $50,000 per year to help pay the bills. They are paid a minimal salary because medical residents are not fully licensed to practice medicine, and therefore residents do not independently bring in any revenue for a medical facility. Instead, residents are physicians in training, working only under the supervision of an attending physician, who is ultimately responsible for the patients being treated by the medical residents."

Also, it's a misnomer that college in the USA takes four years. Most take five, for people change majors. For being a med student, you're working on pre-med so much that that's difficult, for your grades must be a perfect 4.0 to get in as it's competitive. If there's any chance of less than 4.0, some students will drop a course rather than take a B, or let their other courses suffer, not the math and sciences. This adds to the length of the Bachelor's degree.

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/30/2013 09:22 AM

Just implement single payer and you won't have worries like these any more. Or any dox you really want to see.