Jean Z. Owen, "Appointment with the Doctor," Hygeia 22 (1944): 104-105

Mrs. Smith just "drops in" at the doctor's office, wastes time with needless talk and lack of consideration--

But Mrs. Jones always makes an appointment (and confirms it!), arrives promptly, tells her story briefly-and then follows orders! She's a better patient-and a better citizen

"It's as though he were personally concerned about me and my problems," she says. "No matter how busy he is, he always treats me as though he didn't have any other patients at all!"

On the other hand, Mrs. Smith goes around from one doctor to another, never finding one who "understands" her.

"They're all alike," she complains. "They take your money and push you out the door as fast as they can."

I'm willing to wager that if Mrs. Smith could be a mouse in the corner of any doctor's office for a single afternoon she would learn why it is that some women--ones like Mrs. Jones--seem to receive a bonus of attention.

There is a great deal more to a consultation with your doctor than merely airing your complaints, saying "Ah-h-h-h" and paying your fee. (Though you'd be surprised at the number of people who are remiss about the latter!)

Let's take Mrs. Jones' case, since she is a model patient and one that any doctor would be glad to have come into his office. In the first place, Mrs. Jones has made an appointment--several weeks in advance, if possible. And the appointment was made with the doctor's secretary or office nurse, never with the doctor himself. On occasions when Mrs. Jones chances to meet the doctor and he tells her to "come into the office for a checkup at 3 o'clock tomorrow," Mrs. Jones straightway telephones the doctor's secretary and tells her about it so the appointment book won't get jammed.

(Mrs. Smith never makes an appointment; she just "drops in" whenever she happens to be in the neighborhood, usually on a Monday or Friday, the days when most doctors are busiest.)

Once admitted to the sanctum sanctorum of the doctor's consultation room, Mrs. Jones states her complaints quickly and concisely (and in a pleasant voice. A great many women think they must whine in order to impress the doctor with the severity of their illnesses, but not Mrs. Jones). And she never asks him to prescribe for other members of the family by remote control.

If the examination is to include either a complete physical or pelvic examination, or if Mrs. Jones has some illness which involves the kidneys, nine doctors out of ten will want to run a urinalysis. Presto! Mrs. Jones pulls a little bottle out of her purse or pocket, plainly marked with her name and the date. (And if you don't think your doctor would appreciate that, just try it sometime and see!)

The doctor tells Mrs. Jones to disrobe and get into an examining gown. Here's where a lot of women slow things up, but not Mrs. Jones. She is out of the dressing room and up on the examining table so quickly you'd think she might have been a strip-teaser at one time or another. How does she manage this? By having the good sense to come to the office wearing clothes that can be removed quickly. Not like Mrs. Smith, who is wearing a gown that has many complicated fastenings and an Old Ironsides corset that involves hooks, zippers, grapplers and football lacing.

If Mrs. Jones has come for an examination of the heart or chest, she wears a frock that opens at the throat, so that the examination can take place without the necessity of removing her dress. And she always wears a short-sleeved dress, or one that permits the sleeves to be pushed up, whenever she visits her doctor--so that he can take her blood pressure without waiting for her to disrobe.

You'd think that in this day and age of outspoken advertisements, Mrs. Smith would have learned that absolute cleanliness is the first requisite of a charming woman. But she hasn't. It takes patients like Mrs. Jones to know the full meaning of the word "dainty."

Lipstick should be removed in the dressing room if the examination is likely to involve the mouth; mascara and eye shadow should be wiped off if the eyes are to be examined. Mrs. Jones never forgets these little acts of consideration for her doctor, nor does she ever talk to him while he is making an examination, except to answer his questions. Mrs. Smith, of course, babbles all the time her doctor is trying to get her pulse and blood pressure, so that he has to make the examination three or four times--and is still in doubt, possibly, as to the absolute accuracy of his results.

When the doctor has finished examining her, Mrs. Jones dresses quickly, receives her final instructions, asks any questions that are still unanswered to her satisfaction, and then goes. Not like Mrs. Smith, who takes a good half hour getting back into Old Ironsides and then comes in and settles down for a good, long, heart-to-heart talk involving detailed descriptions of all the illnesses that have descended on her family for the past twenty-five years, a résumé of all the medical articles she has read and a final, play-by-play description of the activities of all the organs of her body.

With thousands of young doctors being called into military service, the extra burden of work is being assumed by the physicians and surgeons who have uncomplainingly taken over the care of civilians. It's up to you whether you make it harder or easier for them--and if you make it easier, you will be the one who really reaps the reward, for you will have made your doctor your friend.