Doctor Dot Calm

When I see the doctor, it is usually for the prescriptions I have taken for decades without change or if I am forced to see the doctor as required by those who feel we of an age are all falling apart at the same rate. Sorry about the cynicism, but at my age, you become tired of society singling out all elders and categorizing them and not in a nice way. But then we shall all get there. Back to the topic at hand, these CV19 days many folks are taking advantage of the super idea of NOT going to see the doctor, but of emailing or phoning that professional. Wow! What a great move! When I have to drive for miles on busy byways for a prescription page that could easily be filled without a cursory visit, I find it a waste of gas and time. If I could do this simple matter even taking my own blood pressure which is easy, why do I have to drive to a doctor's office taking their time and space? When I go there, I am sitting next to people who look sick and youngsters coughing nearby with their little germs flying into the surrounding air.  When I see the doctor, it's a hello/goodbye and off I go with a prescription. When I do have something a bit more serious, I can't find an appointment with the busy doctor anyway, and must hie off to the emergency ward where I wait for a very long time until my turn. I have no complaint about the medical people themselves who are among the heroes of our world, but my issue is the system that heretofore seemed cumbersome. The online and initial phone consultation method makes huge sense to me. It's even better for the environment as well as the poor doctors' time schedule. My doctor appears at the hospital for early morning rounds and then runs over to the office to listen to different stories every fifteen minutes from then on until quitting time. I doubt that my doctor takes a full lunch time ever and must also take calls for various cases on the weekends. I, unlike, many patients do not need to see the same doctor for prescription renewal and minor situations. Any doctor will do. There are walk-in clinics I am told. Have you been to one? It is like the bake shop take-a-number plan. What concerns me about walk-in clinics is having to re-tell the same old history to each new and strange doctor who needs to understand histories in order to prescribe adequate treatments. Walk-in clinic doctors in cities are often inundated by people who have critical concerns related to substance abuse and social problems that require immediate off the street help. It's a big world and there aren't enough doctors in it to take on only one pleasant small list of "my patients".  Having an online medical expert when all you want to do is describe your symptoms to see if they need further medical attention makes sense. This kind of chat can happen and pictures be sent .com on the phone.  Call up doctors, if made standard, would be yet another positive outcome in this Covid19 era.