Hadassah bedside manner

July 28, 2010 - 11:09 AM by

So there we were, my wife and I, right on time for my electromyography (EMG) test at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem. The EMG is a technique using slight shocks for evaluating and recording the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles.

This is the test which I wrote about earlier, with a five month waiting list. And thanks to good old Israeli protekzia, I got it whittled down to three weeks.

Someone was already in the examining room of the professor who conducts the test, and he went a bit beyond the scheduled time of my appointment. No problem.

When the patient did leave, instead of calling me in, the professor made a phone call, which I heard through the door, which had been left ajar.

He began a conversation, apparently with a travel agent. Evidently, from what we could glean, he had booked a two-week trip to some European destination, and was upset over fees that the agent had added beyond the cost of the trip.

My wife and I shared glances at what seemed to be an appropriation of work time for a personal matter, but we went back to listening.

It seemed pretty straightfoward, but the professor kept going over the points again and again, getting more blustery as he went, as the person on the other end of the conversation apparently wasn’t backing down like he expected. This went on for 20 minutes!

Meanwhile, another patient for the slot after me had arrived, and was now waiting along with me. I looked at him, smiled and shrugged, as we could hear the professor’s agitated voice wafting out of the open door.

My wife finally turned to me and said, “Can you imagine a clerk at a store, or someone in customer service ignoring a client or customer for 20 minutes and making a personal call? What gives a medical professional the right?”

I was more worried that he was going to be in a bad mood when he finally finished the call, and he was the guy in charge of the shocks being administered to me.

He finally did hang up, I went in, and he was out in 10 minutes. His bedside manner was on par with his phone manners, and I left realizing you can have a title like professor attached to your name and still have no idea what’s going on.

Tags: , , • Category: A New Reality, General, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life 

Comments

One Comment on Hadassah bedside manner

  1. Brian Blum on Wed, Jul 28th 2010 5:38 PM

    2. Medicine in Israel can be a totally schizophrenic experience. You can get both the absolute best and nicest treatment, alternating with something on par with your visit. In general, the HMOs are getting their act together – no more waiting at the doctor’s door and trying to push your way in the way I remember it in 1985 (I really tried hard not to get sick :)

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