Wednesday, February 27, 2008

A Ph.D in Being a Prick

Interesting tidbit I stumbled upon over at RunnersWorld.com - their "Running Doc" talks about the perception among doctors that runners tend to be stubborn and have egos. And, frankly, I get where they're coming from: sometimes my pet chimp complains to me and accuses me of getting my body hair all over the couch, eating all the bananas and throwing my feces at him.

I dated a girl in college who was Pre-Med and she asked me why I thought doctors were worthless. I explained how the summer prior, I had heel pain and went to a doctor. I think it's plantar fasciitis, I said. I have really flat feet. My brother has had it. The pain diminishes a little when I stretch my calves, but never totally goes away.

He examines my foot. Says, No, you just have a worked your heel to the point of acute soreness, that's all. Let's take an MRI, though, just to be safe.

I get a phone call a week later.

Obviously, you see where this is going. But what galled me was HOW he diagnosed my plantar fascitis: I'm taking a look at your MRI. I think you have something called [speaking slowly] plan-tar fa-sci-i-tis. It often occurs in people with feet as flat as yours.

Hold on, Doc, can you give me that again? Let me get a pen so I can write it down. After reading this Runners World column, I realize that as soon as I left the room after my initial visit, this guy probably called up his buddy from med school and was like, "You'll never believe the asshole I just saw..."

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some potassium-rich feces to go throw.

1 comment:

The Track & Field Superfan said...

I got my first case of IT band problems after my first marathon. The trainer at our high school recognized it immediately; my doctor had to go look it up.

All too common.