Doctor Personality Issues

All doctors have different styles and as a patient I truly believe that you need to be comfortable with your physician. There is a level of trust that must exist between patient and physician and this relationship goes both ways. Some patients want to abdicate all decision making responsibility and others want to agonize over every minor point sending their RE emails several times a day.

Overall, I think that I have a pretty good rapport with my patients and thus I am puzzled by the fact that twice in as many weeks I have had patients comment to the nurses that I am the “mean” or “serious” doctor in the practice. These were Dr. D's patients and I must admit that I did not do any routines for these patients from Monty Python and the Holy Grail nor used any references from Star Wars in my interactions with them. Go figure. So for any of those patients passing through the hallowed halls of Dominion Fertility, let me know if I have somehow undergone a personality change. This has happened in the past….

During my 2nd year of residency at Stanford our first child was born and he was what is known as a “fussy baby.” Sleeping was not his thing and so when I was on call at the hospital my wife was awake all night at home. So when I got home after 36 hours on call she would hand me Seth and say “he’s all yours.” It got so bad that my fellow residents took up a petition for us to put him on rice cereal to end the madness. The medical students who had previously given me good ratings turned on me labeling me “the type of doctor that I hope never to become…”

So enough about me…back to IVF and when to use it. Here is the “Question of the Day” from the book written by your favorite mean and serious RE…

51. How do I know if I need IVF?

Not all patients need IVF or are good candidates for IVF. Thus the answer to this question can be determined only after you undergo a comprehensive infertility evaluation by your reproductive endocrinologist. Nevertheless, some situations clearly require the use of IVF. For example, women with absent or severely damaged fallopian tubes should be treated immediately with IVF. Likewise, IVF should be performed first if the male partner has very poor sperm quality. For other patients, the use of IVF may be less clear-cut, especially given that many different treatment options exist. In such cases, the doctor should discuss with the couple the pros and cons of each option, and then all parties should jointly decide on a treatment plan.