March 13, 2008 6:43pm

I hate when I don't write for a while and then I have to update everything quickly.

In short, finished off my ER rotation, went home for a long weekend, found "The Dress" and am now on my Surgery rotation.

Since Roger reads this blog but he doesn't want to see the dress, I will just provide a link to it. This picture isn't quite so accurate, though, because mine will be in light gold (shows up darker than in the picture), with spaghetti straps, and a sweetheart neckline. None of those words mean anything to Roger so we're safe.

Surgery has been....tiring. I don't know if I mentioned that during my OBGyn rotation, I went horizontal my first day 20 minutes into a hysterectomy. I was banished from the OR for cases longer than 10 minutes after that, so this was going to be my first venture back there (but at a different hospital).

The grossness of bowel resections cannot even be put into words. Today, I referred to it as "Medical School Fear Factor". Luckily, everyone laughed (including the surgeon).

A HUGE pet peeve of mine is when doctors sell shit out of their office. Now don't start on the pharm reps and their pens and note pads and lunch lectures because I will swear up and down (despite what Ted Kennedy says) that a good physician makes clinical judgments based on what is best for his or her patients and not what Pfizer Matt brought for lunch that day. And you can't tell me that just because a Dr gets a free clicky pen that they are going to unnecessarily write for that drug. My mom does peds and I've seen her with a Viagra pen. I'm pretty sure she's not putting the kiddos on Viagra....

...but I digress....

What bothers me is when doctors set up a display in their waiting room of some kind of happy horseshit that they are selling. If it's girl scout cookies, I don't care, but more often it is some kind of vitamin, dietary supplement, or weight loss drug.

And this Dr does just that. She sells vitamins. She takes about 40 of them a day herself. Her husband left his job to become a full time distributor for this company. She gets her patients to start these vitamins (basic package is $65 per month) because she believes it will make them healthier.

Now, after spending a few days with her I can honestly say that she does truly believe it will make them healthier. Personally, I love alternative treatments and therapies. Hell, I'm in osteopathic school where we spend a ton of time learning the very "alternative" treatment of manipulative medicine. However, performing a manipulation treatment on someone is very different from handing them a bottle of pills and asking for money for it. In one, they (or their insurance company) is paying for a service I can provide based on my schooling and training. In the other, a patient is handing over money for a bottle of vitamins that I am getting a % of for a mark-up...and they could buy the same thing at Wal-Mart for a whole lot less!!!!

I also am really into herbal remedies, natural remedies, and vitamin therapies. Really, I am. I swear. I love that stuff. I take a handfull of vitamins 3x each day. I can't wait until I'm a "real" Dr with a license and can actually give people advice legally. I can't wait to tell them about how great Omega-3's are and how important Vitamin D may be in preventing some cancers....but I'm not going to hand over a bottle and say "that will be $65 please."

They can follow my advice or not. They can go to the store and buy a bottle or not. They can price comparison shop at 3 different stores! They have some freedom in deciding if they want to try this. Personally, I think that freedom is gone when your doctor not only recommends a product, but sticks it on the table in front of you and wants you to decide if you will buy it from her right there.

So, one would wonder why a doctor would want to participate in this kind of business endeavor rather than just recommend specific treatments/regimens or even recommend a brand that they happen to think is really good.

I asked the question.

The answer? Money. Apparently, she doesn't think she's getting paid enough. She isn't being paid enough by the hospital to support her "entire" family, so she has to do this because "I don't want to be operating when I'm, like, 60."

What, pray tell, did you plan to do when you are 60? Are we still looking for what we want to be when we grow up? Vitamin sales is it!

Furthermore, don't tell me about how you don't make enough money to support your family so you have to sell vitamins out of your office, and then get into your BMW convertible to drive home.

Just....just don't. Please. Save yourself the embarrassment. Your BMW is gorgeous. Really, it is. It's white and has tan leather interior. Honestly, when you are the only surgeon at a hospital and are on call 24/7, do 10-15 cases per day scheduled plus add-ons and emergencies, you really do deserve every single penny you make. When I see patients and their families hugging you in the waiting room, I have no doubt you have earned your money....whatever it may be. But please, don't drive off in a fancy car, go on ski trips with your family, get a weekly massage and then complain you don't make "enough" so you have to sell vitamins. Take it up with the hospital. Ask for a raise. Threaten to leave if you have to, but don't stoop to the level of cashing in on a trend.