Undercover Medic: When do you Admit You're a Doctor?

Sam Pannick, MB, Internal Medicine, 05:58PM Mar 8, 2010

I dread being asked for medical assistance.

It's not that I don't want to help. Really, I do. Let me just finish my snack.

Away from the hospital, requests for medical aid invariably come at the worst possible moment. In the cinema, for example, with your attention already divided between a tortuous Hollywood plot and the need to find the popcorn that's dropped inside your shirt.

Or in the theatre, trapped between frustratingly obese 'Sound of Music' fans, unable to make your way to the aisle - let alone get to the crisis developing in Row C.

The pitfalls are obvious. In these high-stakes situations, you don't just carry your own reputation. You represent doctors everywhere, the accumulated medicinal knowledge of thousands of years of civilization, fighting an age-old battle against disease. Even if you've just been woken up by a stewardess on a transatlantic flight, and you're not wearing any socks.

For some reason, the dignity of the medical profession tends to take a hit in these moments of crisis.

Closer to home, the burden of an unexpected enquiry can also take its toll.

When you're accosted by a neighbour at a dinner party, an informal request for a second opinion can prove a real conversational stumbling block. It's hard to convince your erstwhile drinking buddy that an impromptu diagnosis may not be accurate, especially if you've spent longer talking about sports cars and holidays than you have symptoms. And if the consultation is interrupted by requests to pass the ketchup, it's hard to take your role as trusted physician seriously.

So if you're never off-duty, are you allowed to have an off day? 'Good Samaritan' acts are largely protected by the courts, who recognise that they're performed in less-than-ideal circumstances. And the patients are universally grateful that the popcorn-covered delinquent who came to the rescue did actually have a medical degree.

Whatever the downside, being a doctor still carries enormous social perks. In a world full of "Workflow Priority Managers", "Information Tasking Consultants" and "Bankers", this job is recognisable, recognised and respected.

It just happens to be recognised and respected all the time. If it gets any worse, I might have to take my ID badge off when I leave the hospital. But then how would everyone know I was a doctor?