Rude Treatment and Dragon Gate-Keepers
By Mr.e

It happened yesterday. I didn't expect it at all. Not in a million years. Why would I?

I was bullied by my doctor's receptionist.

I called to make an appointment with a doctor and apparently this particular receptionist ran out of professional courtesy by 09:20am and let me have the dregs.

I've gone to this particular practice for the past year and a half and never in my wildest dream could I imagine going through this experience. It started when I asked who I was speaking to.

The response I got was that it was none of my business to know who I was speaking to. So much for a civil conversation with this person. This receptionist barked that I couldn't see the doctor I was asking to see because another doctor was my doctor and that was that.

When I inquired as to why I'd seen the doctor I wanted to see in the past, I was told that the doctor I wanted to see was only 'filling' in for my 'real' doctor. Now things were getting a bit confusing.

Imagine going to see a doctor for the first time. You agree with that doctors philosophy on treating patients and find him/her most helpful to take care of the problem you've come to see her/him for. I liked this doctor. I thought this was my doctor.

Little did I know that a number of doctors fill in on a weekly/regular basis and I was assigned a doctor when I chose this office. I suppose I made the mistake of choosing a doctors office instead of choosing a doctor.

But I did decide that I wanted to see that doctor again. Now I was being bullied and made to feel insignificant and completely useless by this receptionist’s attitude.

This offensive behavior made me feel that my needs were of no consequence and that as a patient I mattered little. I felt as though I was being condemned for something in my file, something that I was being judged for.

Did it have something to do with the fact that I am receiving temporary medical premium assistance? While I am one of the working poor, I am not on welfare and never have been.

That initial call ended abruptly without explanation. I felt terrible.

My stomach was in knots. Here I was trying to make an appointment with a doctor I thought was mine, seeking medical attention for a painful work related condition only to be told off. It really bothered me and still does.

Minutes later I called back to ask why I'd been treated so rudely. The same receptionist told me that we were 'not friends', were 'not having a chat' and that 'it was none of my business to know who I was speaking to'. (Anonymity goes a long way when rude behavior raises its ugly head.) Then the receptionist hung up on me.

Never have I abused my medical privileges, I don't run to the doctor needlessly and now I discovered that actually caring about a patients well being, questions and concerns don't rate very high.

I've written to the 'real' doctor; whose practice it is, voicing my objection to being treated in this manner. Sadly I will have to find a better medical service provider. This time I'll be more cautious. Sadly, by remaining anonymous, that particular receptionist tarred co workers with the same black brush.