I was aware of the agonizing time ahead of me when I woke up one morning to intense pain from a match of kidney stones. When one of the ER’s resident physicians greeted me in the” Ask Me About My Pronouns” pin, I did n’t realize how agonizing it would be until I arrived at George Washington University Hospital’s emergency room. The rest of my day turned into a real-world illustration of how woke doctors place philosophy before patient care.
I had a large white blood cell count when I arrived, and during my stay, I complained of discomfort in both of my liver. A CT scan taken in the emergency room likewise showed stranding ( i. e., scarring ) in both kidneys.
My principal carer became concerned that a kidney stone had spread an infection through my urinary system the time afterward. I did n’t have any intravenous antibiotics in the ER when she asked if I had as a precautionary measure.
Despite her apparent concern for pronouns, the George Washington citizen was unconcerned about a possible contamination. She ( they? ) neither did I request a semen culture to check for infections or give the stone I passed for laboratory analysis while in the emergency room. She and her treating physician even questioned the necessity of a CT scan, which had previously been done for previous kidney stones, claiming that a test would only be necessary if I had a blockage or contamination. This was an odd state given that I had not yet requested a urine sample for research.
As a health policy scientist, I am aware that over-treating patients can lead to complications like anti-microbial weight, as well as raising the cost of health care for everyone. However, when my primary care physician, who also happens to light in another disaster place in the country’s capital, discovered fundamental precautions that the staff at George Washington lacked, I became concerned that not just that I had received bad care but that the resident’s attire, which featured one button referring to pronouns and another supporting the SEIU affiliate union representing the hospital’s native physicians, suggested a focus on matters other than individual care.
I contacted George Washington University Hospital about the care I received, but its press office did not respond to numerous emails and calls. In response, I would have questioned first why the hospital put me through a combination of dubious care and wake propaganda, and second why it billed my insurer nearly$ 21, 000, of which my insurer anticipates that I will have to pay nearly$ 3, 000 for the privilege of receiving both.
In my experience, I believe doctors should take two lessons into account. For starters, leave the ideology at home. While everyone is entitled to their own opinions, others do n’t necessarily want to hear them, particularly in a place like a hospital.
Doctors should spend more time listening to patients than talking to them, as opposed to engaging in ostentatious virtue signaling that both alienates and draws. Ensuring patients feel heard regardless of skin color, political beliefs, and yes, pronouns, will prove far more meaningful than putting a button on one’s scrubs.
I do n’t think George Washington University Hospital staff at the hospital gave my symptoms any thought, and my experience raises the possibility that the low-income patients the hospital treats, who are likely to be helped by my ER resident, may be suffering from poor care and do n’t even realize it. Perhaps this generation of woke medical students should understand that the best kind of social justice involves them simply doing their jobs rather than politicizing the entire health care system.
