Red Flags at the Doctor’s Office

Going to a new doctor is never easy and can be very nerve wracking, especially if you’ve had traumatic experiences in the past. Medical PTSD is real and can really make seeing medical professionals stressful.

Here are some of my personal red flags when seeing a new doctor. My guard immediately goes up when these things happen and makes it not likely that I’ll book another appointment with them.

Long wait time

My time is just as precious as yours. Are you over booking your schedule or are you not showing up to appointments when you should?

A few months ago I had an appointment with a new doctor. I was scheduled to be his first patient of the day and this doctor had the nerve to show up over 45 minutes late to the office and just leave me waiting in the exam room for whenever he decided to finally show up. He also then proceeded to go over test results for all of 4 minutes and then answer his cell phone before I was even out of the room. How unprofessional!

My time is just as valuable as yours! I am more than just a time on the clock! You just demonstrated you don’t care about your patients with your actions. Now all your patients for the rest of the day will be inconvenienced because you are behind by almost an hour. Not to mention he also did not fix the problem I was having and basically put his hands in the air because the test results came back normal. Quack alert!

In and out visits

Let’s be honest for a sec - I hate going to the doctor. I want to be home as fast as physically possible. But that doesn’t mean I want a 2 minute visit. And I also don’t want to spend more time in the waiting room than in the examination room. I want to see an effort and that the doctor cares and goes over all my issues with me. I want someone that fully examines the problem, and looking at my problem fully can’t be done in 2 minutes. I want a doctor that wants me to ask questions and makes sure I know everything that is happening.

For my HS first surgery, I saw the doctor for maybe all of 3 minutes total during my pre-op appointment and he never went into full detail about HS or the surgery he was going to perform. That’s a huge red flag!

The nurse spends more time with you than the actual doctor

I appreciate all medical professionals and I know that they deal with things that I never ever would be able to handle. Nurses are wonderful, knowledgeable, and great. But I scheduled my appointment with the doctor. I don’t want to be talking with a nurse for 10 minutes and telling them my problems so the doctor can spend 1 minute with me and not even look at me.

The doctor immediately blames your problem on your weight

I saw someone online once ask “does every single overweight person have the problem you’re having?” No. So that means something other than your weight is probably an issue. I feel like weight is an easy scapegoat for doctors. It’s like an immediate reaction the second they see the number on the scale and it really isn’t fair.

So these are some of my red flags. It also never hurts to check reviews online before booking your appointment. That way you can save yourself the heartbreak and stress of working yourself up to be vulnerable around someone new.