Over the years, I have treated various medical professionals, from physicians to nurses to veterinarians to optometrists and to occasional medical residents in training. Are these folks different from other patients? Are there specific challenges treating folks who have a deep knowledge of the medical profession? Are there unique risks to be wary of when the patient is a medical professional?

First, it’s still a running joke in the profession that if a medical student develops an ordinary symptom, then he worries that he has a horrible disease. This is because the student’s experience in the hospital and the required reading are predominantly devoted to serious illnesses. So, if the student develops some constipation, for example, he may fear that he has a bowel blockage, similar to one of his patients on the ward..

More experienced medical professionals may also bring above-average anxiety to the office visit. Physicians, after all, are members of the human species. A pulmonologist who treats emphysema and lung cancer, and who now has a cough, may be more worried than his doctor will be.

There is also a phenomenon known as VIP Syndrome, in which physician-patients paradoxically receive inferior care by virtue of their professional status. The treating physician in these instances bends or ignores the usual practice protocols and treats his colleague informally and inferiorly. Follow this example.

Physician A runs into his own doctor, Physician B, in the Doctor’s Lounge. Dr. A tells Dr. B that his diverticulitis is acting up and requests that a course of antibiotics be called in. Dr. B readily obliges.

This is an example of poor medical care. There was no review of the record, no detailed medical history, no physical exam, and no discussion of a wider consideration of what the medical symptoms might mean. And, would this casual interchange in the lounge even be entered into Dr. B’s record?

What if Dr. A actually had acute appendicitis and should be in the operating room, not at work taking antibiotics? What if Dr. A developed a serious complication from antibiotics that were not necessary in the first place? The irony is that it is medical professionals who are vulnerable to ‘VIP’ care, which in this case should stand for Very Inferior Performance.

Doctors should treat medical patients in the same way that all patients are treated. If the medical patient needs an intimate exam, for example, then it should be done.

No shortcuts. No medical advice in the elevator. I’ve had physicians from time to time call me or even text me for advice on their condition. Usually, these are folks whom I have not seen professionally for some time. Without exception, I advise them to see me in the office so that we can sort through the issues properly. Also without exception, every one of these doctors readily complied because they know how good medicine is practiced.

Do non-medical patients ever aim to shortcut the system? That query deserves its own blog post!