Dear Amy: Bringing a friend to the doctor

[cereta]

Dear Amy: I work in a medical clinic and would like to weigh in on the practice of people bringing friends with them to their appointments.

Unless another person is needed to help with medical issues, I find it very annoying for people to bring an entourage.

I have had patients bring five friends or relatives with them. It is disruptive.

People need to know: Your entourage will not be allowed in to watch you have your test done, so please don't ask. It is a medical test, not a live performance at the theater. — Annoyed Practitioner

Dear Annoyed: Well said.

Comments

[cereta]

I understand staff not wanting a large number of people there. However, instances in which I have brought a friend include: times when I was nervous about whatever decisions were being made or results were being revealed (including my Level 2 ultrasound, when I wasn't sure if my spouse could be there); times when I felt the doctor was not listening to me and needed moral support; times when the problem was not so much the doctor as my own assertiveness in conveying the seriousness of my symptoms (again, both of these situations when my spouse could not make it, and both situations under which I have accompanied my spouse to his doctors'* appointments); and various other situations even just including that I was very sick and wanted someone with me.

And it is patently untrue that you cannot have someone with you during a test across the board. Unless the test requires a sterile environment or involves exposure to radiation, there are many tests other people can be present to hold your hand or watch or whatever. And there are many, many that require that you have a driver.

*In fact, spouse and I shared a primary for a while, and this doctor made it clear that I was always welcome at spouse's visits, precisely because I would sometimes bring things up that spouse would underplay.