Worst Doctor of the Year

No, no -- it's not my doctor, or even any doctor I know. He's a doctor described in an article called "Worst Doctor of the Year," published about a week ago.

I'll let you click on the link to get the details yourself, but the article does point out -- rightly, I think -- that he comes off as a jerk. The patient he works with doesn't seem like the most pleasant of people, either, though he didn't seem all that bad to me. Kind of a cranky old man. Surely, this doctor has dealt with cranky people before.

And I understand completely that doctors need to vent. I imagine it's like being a teacher; sometimes, we close the door and just go off to a colleague about how horrible this or that student was. But we close the door. Learned that from a mentor my first week: if you have to vent, please don't do it publicly. It doesn't create a very good atmosphere.

And that's where this particular doctor makes a mistake. In my non-Lympho Bob life, I spend a fair amount of time thinking about social media, and some of the problems that come when people say things they shouldn't say on Facebook, Twitter, in blogs, on YouTube, etc., etc. And when a doctor trashes a patient in a blog, especially one sponsored by a professional group, it's going to get some notice. I can see where he thought that maybe, since this was a blog aimed at other doctors, no one would notice, kind of like shutting a digital door. But social media don't work that way. Anything that gets written online can be seen, in theory, by anyone else in the world with an internet connection. That's why "Gangnam Style" has close to a billion views; it's not like that many people actively sought out a Korean guy dressed like MC Hammer all on their own.

Social media can be wonderful for a cancer patient; they certainly have been for me, as a way to connect with other patients and find information and inspiration (and, I hope, to provide information and inspiration to others). They can also be a source of information about doctors -- maybe not just who they are, but what they believe. I've linked to some doctors' writing many times in the past, and from what I've read, I think most of them would make fantastic doctors for me. But for the few who wouldn't, it's nice to know who to avoid.

Knowledge is power. That's been an unspoken theme of Lympho Bob for almost five years. Just know how to use it -- as the start of a conversation with your doctor. Or maybe the end of a conversation.....