How I feel the patient sees me while talking to them about their back injury...


(except for the stethescope, don't be ridiculous)

How I feel the patient sees me after telling them I have to check their rectal tone...

Patient waking up from thumb amputation surgery: "Doc, how'd surgery go?"

My exact (cringeworthy) response:

sigh.

When checking in my 20-something female patient for surgery, and her and her sister started arguing over if I could really be a doctor....

Indications conference:
2nd year: 'We performed the antegrade femoral nailing with good fixation.'
Attending: 'And your post-operative plan?'
2nd year: 'They were admitted back to the medicine service and then discharged to SNF.'

Dr. Rives steadying his hand for a delicate CPT entry procedure.  

Hand Surgeon undergoes extensive pre-operative planning on how to bill the next case

REDLANDS, CA - Local area upper extremity surgeon Dr. Bill Rives underwent extensive hours of preparation and literature review for his next cases billing. When asked about the case, Dr. Rives replied 'it's really one of my most complex cases to date as far as coding goes. It's going to really need every trick I've learned. Just think of the damage you could do to the patients neuroplasty coding if you didn't at least add neurolysis.  It'd be disastrous." He then added: "But I'm not worried about the case. I didn't complete an extremely prestigious hand fellowship for nothing."

Dr. Rives is nationally known for his hand surgery coding abilities. "It's really amazing to watch," 4th year resident Lee Resnik stated. "The way he dissects CPT codes, or how he can elevate the RVU's without touching the delicate underlying ICD-9 relationships... wow. Most humans aren't born with such innate unbundling ability." Dr. Rives was last seen deep in thought mumbling something about how carpal tunnel syndrome is kind of, basically, sort of, a compartment syndrome that needed fasciotomy.