Wayfaring MD
And for the 5,000th time, let me clarify that I am female.
Disclaimer:
HIPAA is for reals, folks. All of my "patient stories" have been changed to protect patient privacy. I will change any or all identifiers, including age, location, race/ethnicity, sex, medical history, and quotes.
The Path to Specialty Choice: From Pre-Med to Match Day
How sure can you be of your specialty choice?
I recently got a really good question about how doctors pick their specialties. The answer to that question will be posted in several parts, but I thought I’d also say a few words about the certainty, or lack thereof, that many people feel about their career choices.
No one is more confident about what they want to do with their life than a Pre-Med student (before taking the MCAT). I’m pretty sure that as we progress, we never get back to that point of complete certainty. There are always doubts, what ifs, and daydreams of alternative careers.
The rest of my opinion on this topic I will let you gather from the graph above. Because everyone likes graphs. Handwriting by yours truly.
JL - I’d say that’s pretty much how every consult note reads.
This is a enigma that has sat in my brain ever since i was the responsible for taking myself to the doctor. What is up with doctor handwritting? Are those predestined to be doctors just born with horrible handwritting? Is this something they just acquire through life? Or do they get this unreadable handwritting while in med school? Sometimes I get worried when the pharmacist have to form a huddle to decipher some doctors handwriting. -illegallyawesome
Those who have bad handwriting come from two schools: Those who were born that way and can’t help it, and those who are capable of legible penmanship and just got lazy.
Several things affect our penmanship:
1. Time. We’re always in a rush to get to the next patient.
2. Repetition. When you have to sign your name 100 times a day, you abbreviate it as much as possible until it eventually becomes your distinctive squiggle.
Since so many of you were in lurve with my handwriting, I’m proud to announce…
that it is now available as a font!
I tried it in cursive, but it was super hard to get all the tails on the letters to line up, so we’re sticking with print for now. Maybe if I’m super patient one day I’ll make the cursive one.
So if you want to use it in your logo, let me know.
thisfuturemd Asks:
wayfaringmd Said:
Um, thanks. I could give a sample of good handwriting (i.e., not rushed), but that would require more work than I currently feel like doing, so…
My HPI and sample Rx, written quickly with my favorite pen for the sake of authenticity.
Sample HPI Text:
24-year-old female presents to the emergency room with complaints of nausea and dizziness. She has been having “severe” upset stomach and nausea every morning for the past 2 weeks. When she stands up quickly, she gets lightheaded and feels like she is “gonna fall on my ass”;…
