Exam Info

For Men Only

If you're a man, you need to identify yourself to your clients.

Because the enlightened times in which we live, the folks you're seeing will not assume that you are a medical professional.

Women don't have to deal with this. The assumption will always be that a woman who's doing this is a nurse, lab tech, or whatever. Not for men. I can't tell you the number of times I'll be into an appointment, and the individual will say something that indicates that they think I'm an insurance agent.

I try to be nonchalant about this. But it's something I try to do with everyone. I usually weave it into the conversation by saying something like, "When I was a hospital nurse, blah, blah, blah ..." In other words, I'm letting the individual know that I'm a nurse, that I'm trained, that I didn't start doing this last week.

I once wore a lab coat. I quit that pretty quickly, and don't recommend it. People get nervous when they see a lab coat, and their neighbors talk. I wear what is often called "casual professional," clothes that are slightly dressy, but comfortable.

But by not wearing white, or scrubs, or whatever, I take away the visual identification. Everyone doing this needs to make your appointments aware of who you are, and why you're doing what you do. But us guys just have to bear this cross, and specifically let them know: who you are, what you do, and why you're qualified to do it.

posted by Jim Huffman @ 3:39 PM