Most embarrassing moment of my DPC career
Author: Sarah Zaheer, MD
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that starting and running a Direct Primary Care practice is not for the faint-hearted. Having a beginner’s mindset helps embrace some of the highs and lows, but there are many, many moments of discomfort. Some say it is like being an intern again, but I would say at times I felt like a medical student. By far the most embarrassing moment of my DPC practice was the time I had to reschedule a New Patient onboarding appointment because I could not get into my office.
The patient arrived exactly on time, as I always instruct patients. But they came to the suite to find me sitting outside the door looking through my bag, hoping that after the 100th search, my keys would magically appear.
Being a solo micro practice, I am the only one with keys to my suite. The only other person with access to my office is the building janitor so I make my way to the janitor’s closet and thankfully the door is not locked. I rummaged through the janitor’s closet and success- I found a set of keys. I march back to my door while the patient waits for me to figure this out. The keys have tags in Korean. They could have been his house keys for all I know. Served me right because looking through his stuff was wrong. I made a mental note to apologize to him, maybe even in Korean.
I called the building manager and left desperate voicemails. Only 10 minutes had passed but it felt like an eternity. The patient is still patiently waiting.
Inspiration strikes and I turn to the 2 other doctors’ offices who I have had some interaction with. They do not have room to spare. Of course they didn’t. It was worth asking though, even if the lady looked at me as if she had never heard anything more absurd in her life.
Feeling defeated, I go back to the door where my patient is still waiting and apologize profusely. This patient had taken time off work to come see me and I felt terrible. However, the patient was calm and not bothered. She merely said, no problem she would reschedule. We figured out the time as thankfully my WIFI worked. I promise to refund her registration fee, she nods and walks out to her call.
The building manager finally called me back and informed me I was responsible for calling the locksmith. The locksmith tells me it will take him some time to get to me. I use that time to call the remaining patients on my schedule to inform them of the situation. No one had any pressing needs so this was easy.
The locksmith arrives. It takes 5 minutes, and I finally have access to my office. I find my keys sitting on my desk where I had left them the day before. I got in with my day, all the while waiting for the patient to request to cancel her membership. Days went by but the cancellation request did not come.
She came for the appointment as scheduled and didn’t mention the previous incident. We got on with her care. There are kind people in this world, and I am so fortunate they found me and chose me to be their doctor.
