Patient: "I'm just feeling incredibly depressed about my whole situation."
Me: [thinking] "I really wish I weren't wearing fox ears right now."
A lot of staff members dressed up for Halloween this year and there was a whole theme going. I don't usually dress up and I didn't this year either, but because everyone else was doing it, I found a really discrete pair of fox ears in my kid's room and I wore them about half the day. Most patients either didn't notice or they seemed to appreciate my Halloween spirit. I only wore them for follow-ups, not to see new patients.
But there were one or two times when I desperately wished I didn't have them on. And I was like, do I take them off? Because that would call more attention to them, right?
What do you think? Is it inappropriate for a non-pediatric physician to dress up for Halloween?
While I'm a big fan of whimsy, facing a physician with fox ears might ding the credibility bell for me.
ReplyDeleteI'm a family doc, and I look at my clinic schedule and kind of decide from there whether or not to dress up. If it happens to be a day where I'm going to be seeing a lot of people with really emotionally sensitive issues or giving anyone bad news, then I don't. If it's a day where I've got mostly things like well child visits and people with stable chronic illnesses coming in for follow up, then I do.
ReplyDeletejust dress up as a doctor. lol
ReplyDeleteUnless you're telling me I only have days to live I would like the ears. And even then I wouldn't mind.
ReplyDeleteI'm a pediatrician, dressed like Elsa this year to go along with my pods theme of Disney princesses. Kept rolling over my cape in the exam room (a dad even had to help me when I tried to stand and got stuck!) and I only made it a half day before it had to go! I felt like I was off kilter and not giving my 100% BC I was focused on feeling ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteAnother pediatrician here. Even an innocent murmur can trigger panic in a parent before I explain it more thoroughly and I would hate to be in costume for that. Instead, I look for costumes that I can add on, in case we are doing something festive in the office (adding a leather jacket and fedora to khakis and a white shirt makes for an instant Indiana Jones, for example).
ReplyDeleteSubtle hints at the holidays I find pleasing. Christmas tree earrings, for example. Your fox ears sound on par with that.
ReplyDelete(Disclaimer, I myself do not do this, but I appreciate the effort of those who do).
Family Med doc here. I wore cat ears this year and took them off for most of my direct patient encounters (other than well child checks), but had fun wearing them around the office.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't wear a costume for work, even if I was a pediatrician expecting well child visits only. To me, that's a sign of not recognizing the seriousness of your role in the patient's/caregiver's life if the day brings something unexpectedly negative.
ReplyDeleteDisclaimer: I'm not a physician. I'm in a field where the only people who would even consider wearing holiday-themed things in front of work people are either not in promotion-track jobs (reception) or too close to retirement to care about how they're perceived. And even the people in those positions wouldn't go beyond a holiday-themed earring, sweater, or socks.