What's in a Name?

Dear Sir,

I understand that you were offended by the fact that I referred to you by your age, race, gender and diagnosis instead of your full name when discussing your condition with my consultant at ward round this morning. I would like to explain my reasons for doing so.

1. We doctors are age-ist, racist, and sexist.

Many disease conditions are age-group specific, and some diseases show a predilection for certain ethnic groups. By presenting you by your age and race, we immediately place certain diagnoses higher up the list of possibilities and relegate others to the bottom.

And of course we do not usually consider the prostate as a cause of urinary problems in women, or the ovaries as the source of abdominal pain in men.

So you see, pigeon-holing you in your age, race, and gender category helps us in diagnosing and managing your illness.

2. Your name, much as it is special to you, does not really help our team in identifying you as a unique individual.

As of this morning, I have three Muhammeds, four Tan Ah Kaus, and two Sivas on my ward list.

The hospital understands this problem, which is why you are made to wear a little bracelet with your name and hospital registration number on it so we don't confuse you with other patients who share your name.

Also, your name doesn't really help us in arriving at a diagnosis or treatment plan either.

3. I’ll level with you: nurses identify patients by their bed numbers, physicians by their diagnoses, surgeons by the operation they will be undergoing or have undergone, and the finance department by their bill numbers. That’s because that’s how you relate to our work functions.

(And let’s face it: you do the same. To you and your family, the Nursing Officer is the ‘old missy’, the staff nurse ‘young missy’, my consultant the ‘big doctor’, and myself the ‘small doctor’. I have no problems with that, since classifying us by our function helps you in relating yourself to your environment.)


So you see, much as I would like to add that personal touch by referring to you by your name, it really adds little to our work process and may in fact create confusion.

I am sure you will prefer I use my limited brain capacity to remember what illness you have and how I should treat it, to remembering your name.

Sure it's not world-class service, but you're in a hospital, not a hotel.

Thank you.

angry doc