Hi all,
tracer wrote:
Ali>> You know Steve, despite our differences on certain issues and our
Ali>> heated debates, on and off list that often disintegrate into
Ali>> behavioral issues and personal attacks <tongue in cheek>, I've never
Ali>> thought of constructing one of the above on you. Strange perhaps, but
Ali>> true. Through all that static of your abrasive style, you do get
Ali>> through to me and I listen.:)
> Ali, if you had been in support as long as Steve has been or lets say
> as I have been...
> From what I understand you are a medical doctor.....
Hmmm. How did you know that? And I guess the entire list knows this
now. <sigh> Anyway, I guess I don't mind. I would've preferred the
opportunity of letting them know myself. :)))
> Now what do YOU say about the 10th patient who comes sneezing in your
> office on a day...
You really didn't need to use my profession to get your point across.
I see that you're trying to give an example of having to deal with
repetitive queries. Now, a profession like mine deals with something
like this everyday and I can give you real world examples.
Gallstones and Hernias are extremely common. I would see on average 3
to 4 patients per week with each. Each patient expects an explanation
of the problem, it's treatment, the nature of the surgery and when
they'll be able to go back to work. Unlike usenet though and over a
phone line, I can't simply be curt or unfriendly telling them to go
read a manual or that I'm tired of saying the same thing over and over
again.
Another common scenario is an elderly patient that comes in with all
relatives flocking around. The elderly patient is sick and requires
emergency surgery and I have to communicate this, not only to the
patient but to the concerned relatives as well. They of course begin
to state their concern about their elderly relative being able to
tolerate major surgery in such an ailed state. I now have to go
through the whole risk-benefit analysis behind my decision. It's not
unusual for this to be happening at ungodly hours of the morning when
I'm tired and working for the last 18hrs. Furthermore, after doing the
operation, the keen relative will be awaiting my arrival from out the
operating room. Unlike TV soap operas, the keen relative will not
accept, "The surgery went OK, and he/she should do fine", as being
adequate information at the time. They expect a more in depth
explanation of the findings and the implications etc. They expect it
then and there. See what I'm getting at? I have to do that, explaining
the same things, day in and day out.
This is why you see me posting at ungodly hours at times. I'm either
at home for a break or winding down to go to bed. :)
So three things:
a) In all my years of having to deal with people of all sizes shapes,
ages, ethnicity, social status, cultures; I'm yet to meet one with the
type of 'hard skin' that Steve expects them to have.
b) If it's so frustrating to answer these questions, why answer them
then? You do have a choice on this group you know. The frustration
that is possible through having to repeat oneself in this group dims
in comparison to what my profession entails. I'm not saying that I
don't get frustrated myself, but I don't dare let the patients or
relatives realize this or else it will come back to haunt me, and it's
also rude and unkind.
c) If someone makes a suggestion that is their own selfish desire I
really don't think the developers at Ritlabs will suddenly implement
it, especially on this very basis, unless it's a compelling and truly
useful suggestion. So why bully them? Furthermore, I genuinely don't
think anyone who suggests changes to TB!, on this discussion list, are
doing it out of selfish desire. The fact that they post the suggestion
on this discussion list is testimony to this. They post it for
discussion and to see how others may feel about it.
Sorry for the long winded explanation but my verbosity is borne of my
having to constantly explain myself at length as a medical
professional. :)
--
Regards,
-=Ali=-
>>> How an engineer writes a program: start by debugging an empty file. <<<
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