Dr. Cranquis' Mumbled Gripes

Absolutely, Tabloid Tabbycat! In fact, I would argue that doctors need to be even MORE careful about protecting their personal reputations than politicians do:

• Everyone expects politicians to be slimy. A politician who goes through their entire term of service without having some skeleton fall out of the closet is considered “strange” nowadays! But doctors are expected to be gleaming scions of virtue, and a doctor who gets a “bad reputation”, even for things unrelated to their ability to practice medicine well, can lose lots of patients, and therefore income. Meanwhile, people keep voting for the “least slimy” politicians… :p
• You don’t have to get licensed to be a politician — you just have to suck up to the general public hard enough to get elected, and then you can go back to being your usual slimy self. Doctors, on the other hand, have to get licensed by their state of practice and by the DEA (and renew those licenses on a regular basis). If a doctor commits a felony, his licenses are in jeopardy, and his job may decide to fire him or discipline him or not renew his contract later. If a doctor gets a reputation for being lewd or violent, his patients may file complaints with the state medical board, which can also lead to financial and legal consequences.

(In case you haven’t guessed, I’m not a big fan of politicians). :)

I learned a hard lesson about “avoiding controversy” as an intern. I had signed up online for a “credentials verification service” as part of the process of getting all my paperwork together to apply for my first state medical license. A couple months later, I got a bill from the service for WAY more than their website had stated they would charge me. I wrote them a letter in return, calmly and politely explaining why I didn’t feel this bill was fair sarcastically accusing them of fraud and refusing to pay the bill since I didn’t feel they had actually done anything for me (Hmm… now that I think about it, this may have been the first piece of Cranquis-like writing I ever wrote!).

A few weeks later, my program director called me into her office. A copy of my letter sat on her desk — the company had complained to my director about my “lack of professionalism.” (jerks!) So I got an official reprimand, and I learned two valuable lessons that day:

• Always assume that anything you sign your name to could end up on the desk of a supervisor.
• Write your complaints anonymously whenever possible (hence, this website?!) :)

As a doctor, your “personal” life isn’t totally “personal” anymore, when the eyes and trust of your community are upon you. I have seen colleagues get fired or placed on administrative leave because of accusations of domestic violence, drunk and disorderly conduct, and sexual indiscretions. (How many politicians currently working in Washington have done any of those things, yet keep their jobs after a properly-phrased “apology”? Hmm…) ;)  A newspaper article on your supervisor’s desk can lead to “pre-emptive action,” even if the contents of the article have no effect whatsoever on your ability to diagnose and treat disease.

I hope that answers your question, and reminds all my current/future colleagues out there to mind their p’s and q’s!