On Call?

[goffdent]

I hear a lot of predental and dental students talking about why dentistry is better than medicine and one of the things that is always mentioned is medicine has "On call" while dentistry is usually not "on call." My dentist has a rotation with the other 2 Dr.'s in his office covering certain nights of the week and each getting one weekend a month, rotating out the last weekend of being "on call". Is this not the norm? do most dentists tend to leave at the end of the day and turn off the phone so to speak? I couldn't imagine having an office and NOT being on call. What do you guys know or do?
Thanks.

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[omaralt]

dentists are also "on call". i have a forwarding service 24 hrs a day. if any of my patients have an emergency after hours they call the service, and the call is forwarded to me. 90% of the time these "emergencies" can be handled with either an Rx over the phone or telling them to come in on the next working day. in rare instances i'll go in to the office after hours (VERY rare) for an avulsed tooth. if it's a real emergency with swelling, difficulty breathing, etc, i tell them to go to ER.

physicians have to go to the hospital when they're on call. my uncle (cardiologist) will go to the hospital almost every night when he's on call (two weeks on, two off). thats the difference

 

[goffdent]

thanks! that's what I expected to hear. From my experience, yes, many calls are ended with prescriptions or referring patient to the next work day. Also, i hear from my dentist that he tends to get a lot of people right before common vacations such as thanksgiving and christmas. Apparently people like to wait for weeks with some pain, then come in on Friday and want it fixed before they go out of town. Or some have had an issue for weeks, then call the "on call" Dr. while he's at movie for example. It comes with the territory though, and I expect it, so I don't plan on being too disappointed.

 

[omaralt]

Or some have had an issue for weeks, then call the "on call" Dr. while he's at movie for example. It comes with the territory though, and I expect it, so I don't plan on being too disappointed.

you honestly never have to go to the office after hours. if it's a new patient that calls with an emergency, i dont prescribe anything or come in; i have no relationship with this patient. if it's a patient of record that hasnt' been in for many years, i may prescribe under dire circumstances. if it's a patient thats going through treatment or has been a regular patient for many years, then i'm more apt to go in for a true emergency. what most people dont realize is that true dental emergencies are VERY rare. the only one i can think of is an avulsed tooth. everything else can either wait until the next working day or go to the ER. you will almost never have to leave a movie at night being a dentist

 

[DrJeff]

The number to my blackberry is on my office answering machine. If a patient has a problem, the call me. I get maybe 1 call a month, and maybe once or twice a year I'll actually have to go into the office and do something. Same goes for my business partner.

If my business partner is away on vacation, I cover for him and vise versa. If in a rare instance, we're both away at the same time (we try not to do that except for maybe a dental meeting or two a year) then we have one of the other dentists in the town where we practice cover for us while we're away (and we gladly reciprocate when they might ask us to do the same for them)

Not a big deal

 

[omaralt]

The number to my blackberry is on my office answering machine. If a patient has a problem, the call me. I get maybe 1 call a month, and maybe once or twice a year I'll actually have to go into the office and do something. Same goes for my business partner.

i was thinking about that, but i didnt want to give my cell number to patients... have you had any problems with that? any reason why you dont have a forwarding service? thanks

 

[DrJeff]

i was thinking about that, but i didnt want to give my cell number to patients... have you had any problems with that? any reason why you dont have a forwarding service? thanks

No problems. These days, most folks are using either their cell phones or have caller ID on their home phones, so as soon as you call them back, they know your number anyway.

Plus, many times I've found that the level of comfort that a patient gets from hearing YOUR voice on the other end of the phone as opposed to a 3rd party helps take care of the situation much better.

 

[goffdent]

As long as you don't end up with a stalker patient that wants you like she did Don Cheadle in the Movie 'Reign Over Me'. Can you imagine explaining those phone calls to the Mrs.?

 

[DrJeff]

As long as you don't end up with a stalker patient that wants you like she did Don Cheadle in the Movie 'Reign Over Me'. Can you imagine explaining those phone calls to the Mrs.?

Fiction and reality are often about a million miles apart

To be honest with you, over 3/4ths of what few emergency calls I do get start off something like this "Hi Dr. J, it's X, I feel really bad to bother you on the weekend/at night/etc, ......."

You do have to remember that your typical private practice patient population is MUCH different than your typical d-school patient population

 

[goffdent]

You do have to remember that your typical private practice patient population is MUCH different than your typical d-school patient population

Of course..., grateful is the word that comes to mind. I do remember an incident involving me, a blindfold, cub scouts, and a brick wall. My parents were grateful I was able to get in after hours that night... My teeth were never the same again..