Bedside Manners We Need To Talk: Dare to Say the Scary Words by Dr. Patricia Raymond, MD, FACP, FACG

“Dr. Raymond… we need to talk.”

“Call me”, the voicemail from my new practice manager concluded. It gave not a clue to the topic of our upcoming conversation.

Yikes. I hate that. Actually, it would be more correct to say that I fear that. I spent ten years in a practice where those words never preceded “Your staff has decided to get together and give you a surprise birthday party” or even “We made so much money last month that we decided to give you a bonus, and a day off.”  It always meant something awful, and a meeting in which you were blindsided by not knowing the topic… except of course, that you would be the topic. (more…)