THE BIG M.D.

I got the bill for my surgery. Now I know what those doctors were wearing masks for. ~James H. Boren

I chose Dr. Emmanuel St. Louis, a general practitioner from NY, primarily because he was the only one from my list to reply to my email. Dr. Emmanuel St. Louis was a Biology major in college and started volunteering in middle school at a local hospital and interning in high school. He’s literally on his feet for 10 hours a day, rushing from patient to patient and his office is the busiest days on holidays. Throughout the day he tries to maintains’ straight posture, tries to find a few minutes to relax and relieve stress so that not only he looks professional, but so that he maintains a clear head. The most important questions I asked him was what daily conflicts did she encounter and how he dealt with those conflicts? Conflicts seem to occur more with patients that don’t listen to their doctor’s recommendations. For example a young teenager came into the office for a fractured leg and was told to stay off her leg for 2 months. The young girl did not listen and ended up breaking her leg playing sports. The father rushed her to the hospital, yelled and got into an argument with Dr. Louis because she said that it was his fault that her daughter’s leg was broken, when in reality, the daughter didn’t listen to the doctor.

In addition he told me that to communicate more effectively she tries to make whomever she’s speaking to comfortable. Especially if he has something unfortunate to them she brings them to her office or another quiet room, away from outside distractions. He makes eye contact, speaks slowly, clearly and chooses words that she thinks they will easily understand, and listens to their concerns. He also encourages the patient or whomever he’s speaking to, to ask questions if they don’t understand something he’s said. Another major issue that occurs are disagreements with other doctors who’ve been working in the hospital for many years. Many of them believe that because they’ve been in the hospital longer are ‘hardheaded’ and they believe they know what’s best, but Dr. Louis says that sometimes the newer staff members who’ve just gotten their residency usually know new techniques, treatments and diagnoses that these older doctors haven’t heard of and/or tested yet. I would categorize him as having emphatic assertion because he cares about the needs of doctors, staff members whenever there’s a conflict but also make his own opinions known.

On his free time Dr. Louis goes to workshops and training sessions for graduate medical students so he can refresh his memory and learn new useful techniques. Another thing he always does, is to remind the patients to listen to their bodies. ‘If something doesn’t feel right, act immediately and don’t ignore it, because coming to the hospital for a quirky feeling could be the thing that helps saves your life.’