specialties with most pleasant patients

[forum432]

which specialties have the most pleasant patients to deal with in your experiences? im assuming specialties which dont deal with very sick patients would be examples

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[NickNaylor]

"Very sick patients" probably wouldn't be seen in most outpatient clinics (versus something like an in-patient academic setting). I imagine patients at a private derm practice would be "the most pleasant."

 

[forum432]

thanks for the response blake, any more thoughts guys?

 

[flatearth22]

Pathology

 

[DAPI]

Peds hem/onc are the sweetest kids on the planet IMHO. Their parents on the other hand can be a handful.

 

[kexy]

I imagine sports medicine, whether FP or ortho, would have pretty pleasant patients. The FP sports med doc I shadowed saw mostly young athletes with sports injuries and sweet older patients with mobility issues. Both groups were very pleasant and grateful.

 

[ChartaBona]

I forget the exact quote from Scrubs, but it goes something like this:

Dr. Cox to JD: [sarcastically] "Being a doctor would be so great if it wasn't for all the the SICK PEOPLE"

 

[forum432]

thanks for responses, keep em cummin!

 

[JRG]

My guess might be outpatient geriatrics. While I can see how that population might be less pleasant in some instances, there's a reason why that speciality claims one of the highest job satisfaction rates overall. Beyond that...possibly peds.

 

[Stumpyman]

I imagine sports medicine, whether FP or ortho, would have pretty pleasant patients. The FP sports med doc I shadowed saw mostly young athletes with sports injuries and sweet older patients with mobility issues. Both groups were very pleasant and grateful.

This (and derm).

My guess might be outpatient geriatrics. While I can see how that population might be less pleasant in some instances, there's a reason why that speciality claims one of the highest job satisfaction rates overall. Beyond that...possibly peds.

Not peds... if you like kids then the children you treat are probably alright, but a lot of times, the parents can be seriously insane (shadowed a couple pediatric doctors, plus my aunt shared a lot of stories as a pediatrician).

 

[TheMightySmiter]

A screaming child afraid of needles is not that pleasant, IMO. Inpatient rehab patients are usually pleasant because they have to meet certain criteria to get admitted to a rehab floor. Transplant patients (both donors and recipients) are also wonderful!

 

[light warrior]

Rheumatology!

 

[dtang3]

I'm currently shadowing a Neurologist. He sees mostly patients with Parkinson's/movement disorders, Huntington's, and Alzheimer's. In other words, old people. All of them have been sooooo sweet and cooperative .

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

This (and derm).



Not peds... if you like kids then the children you treat are probably alright, but a lot of times, the parents can be seriously insane (shadowed a couple pediatric doctors, plus my aunt shared a lot of stories as a pediatrician).

I know that feeling. I shadowed a pediatrician and the kids were nice, but the parents would ask a million and one questions. They would literally think their kid was dying when they got a flu shot. Definitely don't want to do that for a living.

 

[sliceofbread136]

Emergency medicine for sure. Some are nice enough to take a dump in the middle of the hallway.

 

[deleted393595]

Pathology

+1

 

[ReptarBar]

Emergency medicine for sure. Some are nice enough to take a dump in the middle of the hallway.

steamy

 

[Geekchick921]

Peds hem/onc are the sweetest kids on the planet IMHO. Their parents on the other hand can be a handful.

Can you blame them?

I forget the exact quote from Scrubs, but it goes something like this:

Dr. Cox to JD: [sarcastically] "Being a doctor would be so great if it wasn't for all the the SICK PEOPLE"

As Randal Graves put it, "This job would be great if it wasn't for the ****ing customers."

I would agree with Kexy. Sports medicine sprung to mind as a specialty that would have pleasant, cooperative patients.

 

[tiedyeddog]

Geriatrics... you get to see little old grandma all day, she'll probably even bring you cookies every now and then.

 

[wholeheartedly]

Pathology

+2


That was the first thing that popped into my head when I read the question....
and I even like patients..

 

[smq123]

which specialties have the most pleasant patients to deal with in your experiences? im assuming specialties which dont deal with very sick patients would be examples

Actually, sometimes specialties that deal with the sickest patients (i.e. those about to die) have the best patient experiences. Patients that are so sick that the situation seems hopeless (advanced cancer, advanced AIDS) are grateful for just reasonable care, and kind staff. Seriously, they are some of the most gratifying patients to take care of, even if many of them are close to death.

A couple of my favorite patients that I've taken care of so far were terminally ill cancer patients. They didn't have unreasonable expectations (they knew how sick they were), but they were so grateful for any kindness, compassion, and if you just spent a few extra minutes with them. One lady, who had advanced pancreatic cancer, was super sick. She had constant nausea, and vomiting, and abdominal pain. I was on surgery, so I had to come in and see her every morning at 5 AM. I didn't think that she was ever happy to see me, but one morning, after I was done listening to her heart and lungs, she grabbed my hand and said, "Seeing you and your smile first thing every morning is one of the only things that brings me any joy in here. I am always so happy to see you....thank you for seeing me."

"Very sick patients" probably wouldn't be seen in most outpatient clinics (versus something like an in-patient academic setting). I imagine patients at a private derm practice would be "the most pleasant."

I think that some of the patients who go to a private derm practice are frequently the most demanding. Many go for purely cosmetic reasons, so they have very very high expectations.

You'd be surprised what we see in the outpatient clinic, even at a community (i.e. non-academic) program.

 

[thesauce]

Peds

 

[Morzh]

I'm currently shadowing a Neurologist. He sees mostly patients with Parkinson's/movement disorders, Huntington's, and Alzheimer's. In other words, old people. All of them have been sooooo sweet and cooperative .

lol. Either you haven't been shadowing long enough or this neurologist lives in a very affluent area and has a sweet gig going. Many neurology patients are on par with psych or ED pts.. maybe a little easier because the nice older people you mention balance it out a bit.

(or were the smiley and extended o's in "sooo" hints at sarcasm...?)

 

[forum432]

good responses, keep em cummin in!

 

[dreamweaver1988]

I know that feeling. I shadowed a pediatrician and the kids were nice, but the parents would ask a million and one questions. They would literally think their kid was dying when they got a flu shot. Definitely don't want to do that for a living.

I did some peds shadowing and this happened a few times.

On the other hand, you also get a fair amount of well baby visits, which are great. Any time a doctor tells a mom or dad "Your have a healthy baby" it's such a huge relief. Also kids are so funny. Some cry after shots, but one who came in when I was there way screaming "But mommy, I want a shot!" as they walked out. Lol.

 

[ChartaBona]

I'm currently shadowing a Neurologist. He sees mostly patients with Parkinson's/movement disorders, Huntington's, and Alzheimer's. In other words, old people. All of them have been sooooo sweet and cooperative .

I'm a CNA who works with Alzheimer's/ Dementia patients at a nursing home, and they can be a real nightmare sometimes.

 

[bayarea15]

I'm a CNA who works with Alzheimer's/ Dementia patients at a nursing home, and they can be a real nightmare sometimes.

I have done alzheimers/hospice home care for about 7 years...I love alzheimers patients. I think it takes a certain person to work with them just as it would take a certain person to work with children.

Sent from my PC36100 using SDN Mobile

 

[thlaxer]

Actually, sometimes specialties that deal with the sickest patients (i.e. those about to die) have the best patient experiences. Patients that are so sick that the situation seems hopeless (advanced cancer, advanced AIDS) are grateful for just reasonable care, and kind staff. Seriously, they are some of the most gratifying patients to take care of, even if many of them are close to death.

A couple of my favorite patients that I've taken care of so far were terminally ill cancer patients. They didn't have unreasonable expectations (they knew how sick they were), but they were so grateful for any kindness, compassion, and if you just spent a few extra minutes with them. One lady, who had advanced pancreatic cancer, was super sick. She had constant nausea, and vomiting, and abdominal pain. I was on surgery, so I had to come in and see her every morning at 5 AM. I didn't think that she was ever happy to see me, but one morning, after I was done listening to her heart and lungs, she grabbed my hand and said, "Seeing you and your smile first thing every morning is one of the only things that brings me any joy in here. I am always so happy to see you....thank you for seeing me."

Thank you for sharing this

 

[ljpm8224]

from a strict hygiene and smell point of view, I'd go with either ortho or sports medicine. athletes & generally clean, respectful people who are likely to not have scabbies, paint the walls with feces, get sent in with a rotting gtube that has been pulled out and ignored/patched up poorly by board & care staff a million times and stinks so bad it gets into your hair and somehow transfers into your carseats on the drive home from work and you can't get the smell out of your car seats for TWO WEEKS, throw semen at you and aim for your eyes, walk out in their gown with their iv pole still dragging next to them down to the street to catch the M33 downtown to get high... oh wait, what were we talking about again?

 

[Phyozo]

ALS patients are the most pleasant...it's almost a pre-requisite for the disease...

 

[kautionwirez]

ortho/sports medicine. you don't deal with "sick" but more like "broken" that is fixable mechanically. you get to fix them and then they'll love you.

 

[smq123]

from a strict hygiene and smell point of view, I'd go with either ortho or sports medicine. athletes & generally clean, respectful people who are likely to not have scabbies, paint the walls with feces, get sent in with a rotting gtube that has been pulled out and ignored/patched up poorly by board & care staff a million times and stinks so bad it gets into your hair and somehow transfers into your carseats on the drive home from work and you can't get the smell out of your car seats for TWO WEEKS, throw semen at you and aim for your eyes, walk out in their gown with their iv pole still dragging next to them down to the street to catch the M33 downtown to get high... oh wait, what were we talking about again?

Athletes are sometimes more demanding, in that their hobby/livelihood depends on your skill. If you're a surgeon and you screw up the surgery....oops. There goes that college baseball scholarship!

Ortho/Sports Med don't deal only with young athletes. Elderly people need knee and hip replacements or joint injections too.

On one of my ortho rotations as an intern, we had an elderly woman from a local nursing home come into the ortho clinic for a joint injection. She was pretty old, and frail, and she crapped herself while sitting in the waiting room. And then, after they cleaned her up, she crapped herself again in the exam room. And then, another patient from the same nursing home peed herself in X-ray. After that, the ortho attending turned to me and said, "I think you're bad luck."

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

I did some peds shadowing and this happened a few times.

On the other hand, you also get a fair amount of well baby visits, which are great. Any time a doctor tells a mom or dad "Your have a healthy baby" it's such a huge relief. Also kids are so funny. Some cry after shots, but one who came in when I was there way screaming "But mommy, I want a shot!" as they walked out. Lol.

Yeah I mean the kids were fine, it was just the parents. Especially the religious ones who had a problem with everything.

 

[235788]

private practice GE or urology would be pretty nice.

 

[Amba]

I've heard ophthalmology has very grateful patients.

 

[tantacles]

Emergency medicine for sure. Some are nice enough to take a dump in the middle of the hallway.

Ah, the smell of success. Or is it sepsis?

 

[circulus vitios]

Pathology. All of your patients are either dead or cut up and on a slide.

 

[ppfizenm]

radiology? anesthesiology?

 

[patineurMD]

radiology? anesthesiology?

or surgery... when they're asleep they're pretty much never annoying.

 

[theseeker4]

or surgery... when they're asleep they're pretty much never annoying.

Lots of contact outside the OR though, so it would depend on the patient population/specialty/etc.

 

[Brachyury]

Rheumatology!

+2

A disproportionate number of rheum patients and females with chronic illnesses (i.e. your patients will actually take their meds/follow directions). Most rheum patients are suffering from horrible, chronic illnesses, and in general, they are greatful for anything you can do to help them.

 

[tantacles]

From what I've heard (I believe there was another forum where this question was asked), the most grateful and pleasant patients are in orthopedics. Going from functional but extremely painful to functional with very little pain means a lot to people who need joint replacements.

 

[AWK87DOC]

I'm currently shadowing a Neurologist. He sees mostly patients with Parkinson's/movement disorders, Huntington's, and Alzheimer's. In other words, old people. All of them have been sooooo sweet and cooperative .

+1 Sick, old people are the most pleasant. Especially neuro patients!

 

[ppfizenm]

+1 Sick, old people are the most pleasant. Especially neuro patients!

Neuro patients are depressing. Why has no one said this? They may be pleasant themselves but not pleasant to have. PD patients are prone to depression and hearing their stories was pretty sad when I shadowed a Neurologist who dealt with them specifically. Some were upbeat but there were others who never left their houses b/c of crippling depression and who couldn't stop crying in the office. (These were all patients with deep brain stimulators so their movements/shaking/rigidity were not incredibly large issues.)

And then AD patients. They are not pleasant all the time, especially if they are agitated. I would say this one takes a large toll on the doctor of the patient b/c you get to watch them decline.

 

[qwertyu12345]

thanks for the response blake, any more thoughts guys?

lol blake? u referring to his avi? thats a rapper, his name is kid cudi i think

 

[user00]

lol blake? u referring to his avi? thats a rapper, his name is kid cudi i think

really??? its aubrey graham u idiots, used to act in show called degrassi, not sure what he's been doing since but he looks good in that avi

 

[Jennet]

Peds hem/onc are the sweetest kids on the planet IMHO. Their parents on the other hand can be a handful.

This. I volunteered in pedi onc doing arts and crafts with patients and I loved every minute of it. It's actually one of the reasons I want to consider this as a specialty. The parents bore the brunt of the stress and could be quite a handful, but I sympathized with their anxieties.

 

[TheMightySmiter]

+1 Sick, old people are the most pleasant. Especially neuro patients!

I have had plenty of sick, old patients who are complete a-holes. Plus, you have to deal with their family members.

 

[user00]

i would say reproductive endocrinology/infertility peoples are generally healthy, young, and only problem is they cant make babies, so u might want to shadow this field

 

[gettheleadout]

+2

A disproportionate number of rheum patients and females with chronic illnesses (i.e. your patients will actually take their meds/follow directions). Most rheum patients are suffering from horrible, chronic illnesses, and in general, they are greatful for anything you can do to help them.

This makes me think that a pain doc who doesn't give narcs would have pretty pleasant patients as well (grateful, not combative, etc...)