Drew, Tanner and Andy discuss something EVERY physician has gone through since the day they started medical school: Family and Friends seeking medical advice. This episode dives into the idea of each of us overnight becoming our “Family Doc”. Drew shares the story of helping his family deal with the death of his Step Father (make sure you have the kleenex close). Our hope at the end of this episode is that you as a physician or even any other emergency medicine medical professionals can listen to this, feel like you are part of our family and provide better medical advice/translation to you and yours.
Episode 24: #FamilyDoc
EM Over Easy Take Home Tips:
- Don’t discredit their concerns.
- Practice the phrase “Go to your Family Doctor”.
- Don’t speak outside your medical expertise, Be OK saying I DON’T KNOW.
- Find your family good readable information as a way to educate them when they have questions.
A BIG THANKS to Rob Rodgers (@EM_Educator) for being a catalyst to this conversation/episode.
Episode 24: #FamilyDoc
Tanner, it’s great to hear you’ll be joining the FF Team!
Good stuff with your podcast, just finished listening to this most recent episode. I especially liked the description of feeling freaked out and in the dark when getting news of a serious problem over the phone…reminds me of the one time I got a call from my Dad who casually informed me that Mom’s HR was 165, and “what should I do?” To this I would add, not only to practice “Call your Family Doc,” but also to practice “Hang up and call 911!”
I would add one thing regarding keeping a record: most if not all states that I’m aware of *require* that you keep a medical record on all patients that you see. I suppose if it’s just random conversation it’s OK, but if there’s any addressing a specific question, and especially if your write a script, you really have to keep some sort of a record. Now we’re talking about HIPPA and such…is a 3×5 card in your file cabinet secure enough? I’m not sure what the answer is, but I keep a password protected Word document on my computer for this purpose when it’s become necessary in the past
See you on the road!