Doctor

Once, I went to the doctor because of a horrible sore throat that lead to extreme ear pain when I swallow, be it food or drink. The sore throat- ear pain was so bad that it's a feat in itself to speak. After relaying the "problem" to the doctor, he instructed me to open my mouth and stuck the "ice-cream stick" into my mouth to see how bad it was. He then proceeded to "shine" my ear with a flashlight. After that, he remained silent. He didn't tell me how bad my condition is nor what he thinks is the problem. Instead, he picked up his pen and was really engrossed in drawing. He drew a diagram of the ear, and started filling it up, like he's sitting for a biology exam. There I was, sitting there waiting for his response, while watching in awe an artistic performance by a doctor. I waited, and waited but there was no response from him. I interrupted his Leonardo Da Vinci performance to ask him about my diagnosis. I asked whether there is a pus in my ear. He looked up from his masterpiece, not happy that I interrupted his concentration and said no. I was then sent out to wait for my medication. I had to wait for over half an hour to get my medication from the dispensary, but I was the only patient in the clinic. When I finally collected my medicine, I was told that they are out of medicated ear drops and I was told to get it from a pharmacy ( which was next to the clinic). After going through so much hassle, only to get prescribed panadol (tablet form @ round ones that I hate because it's difficult to swallow. Prefer caplets @ oblong ones) and the name of the medicated ear drops scribbled on a post-it. I could have just walked into the pharmacy and bought the ear drops and save my time of waiting. That's the first time I've seen a doctor so immerse in drawing on the tiny piece of patient's diagnosis card. Usually we only see horrible, non readable handwriting on the card. A friend said the reason doctors write in horrible handwriting is so that patient and their family/ friend/ companion can't read what is written on the patient's card. That is why the nurse enters when the patients leave the room so that the doctor can explain what to give to the patients.