This is a personal story written by Dr. Jae Pak:
While I am fully trained in hair transplant surgery by Dr. Rassman and it has been my primary practice over the years, I am also trained in emergency medicine. As such, I keep up my skills as an emergency physician at local hospitals in the community a few times a month. This gives me a unique perspective in my professional and personal life. I see the best and worst in people.
Despite what you may think about hair transplant patients, they come from all walks of life. They are not the super wealthy or the Hollywood celebrities. Sure, there are a few of those, but most of my patients are plumbers, teachers, taxi drivers, businessmen, students, etc. Most of my hair transplant patients are healthy, happy, and pleasant. I usually set aside 30 to 60 minutes to bond with them know about their personal life and to establish a true doctor-patient relationship.
In my emergency medicine practice, as you can imagine, I see mostly sick and unhappy patients. And despite what you may think of emergency medicine (as you may see it on TV), its not all about trauma, gun shots, and life or death. Sure, I see my fair share of life or death with gun shots, motor vehicle crashes, and heart attacks, but the good portion of patients I see do not belong in the ER. Due to the overcrowding and long lines in the ER, I do not have the luxury of spending time and bonding with the patients I see, as there are literally lines of patients to be seen. Without going in to a long tirade of how the our health system is broken, I would like to share a story:
I saw a patient in the ER the other day who was about 18 years old. She called the ambulance because she had diarrhea and stomach cramps for a day. When I walked into the room, she was sitting on a chair eating Doritos with a Diet Coke clenched in the other hand. While I doubt that the Diet Coke would help her deuce and half physique, I knew she couldn’t have been in too much distress as she was able to tolerate the spicy flavored corn chips. So when I asked her why she called the ambulance, she looked at me straight in the eye and stated she didn’t have a ride to the hospital and didn’t want to take the bus. We all have had an upset stomach and don’t think to rush to the ER, so when I asked why she felt it necessary to come to the ER, she said she didn’t have any medication at home and didn’t know what to take after the 3rd diarrhea episode, so she though she would get help from the ER. When I asked her if she had a doctor to call, she said she didn’t have a regular doctor and she always comes to the ER to get her all her care because its free.
At this point, I was curious to know why she would think my services in the ER would be free, so I asked her to elaborate. Setting aside her multitasking of texting her boyfriend on her shiny iPhone and sipping on the Diet Coke, she proudly presented a card from her fake Louis Vuitton purse — a disability MediCal ID, like it was her get-out-of-jail-free card. I asked her about her disability, thinking that she must have a horrible childhood disease to get the ID at such a young age. As she continued on with her texting, she told me she is disabled because of her lower back pain issues. She further elaborated that her mom actually helped her get this disability status so she can collect the monthly SSI check from the state, just like her mom. Naturally, back pain is the reason why she does not work or go to school when I asked about her life at home. And aside from the fantastic emergency care I was to provide for her, she demanded I check to see if she was pregnant because she was a day late and didn’t have the money to buy a pregnancy test from the drug store. I was happy to inform my patient after the “free” thousands of dollars worth of work up, that she just had a case of normal stomach flu and that she would be fine. She seemed unfazed after I gave her the results of her pregnancy test and requested a free taxi voucher to go home, because her boyfriend was busy and the mom was nowhere to be found. When the social worker could only help her out with a free bus ticket, she was very upset and asked to go outside for a smoke.
Unfortunately, this typifies a good portion of the patients I see in the ER. It is a familiar truth to most doctors and nurses, and while my story may not be unique, it is a sad stark contrast to the hardworking good intentioned patients I see at New Hair Institute who probably would not call the ambulance for a simple case of diarrhea. We are at the brink of some form of health care reform, but in my humble opinion, we will never have a true health care reform until we have people reform. That’s the extent of my social commentary and I’ll let you interpret the story any which way. Don’t get me wrong, I love working in the ER. For every 100 “typical” patients I see, I sometimes have the privilege to save a life and make a difference. Then the next day I get to come to NHI and make a difference in another way — by giving my patients hair! Those with a full head of hair couldn’t possibly understand, but to some people hair is life or death! To me, I have a great job(s) and I get to meet and help a lot of interesting people from all walks of life.
Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):
This is obviously a worrying story – and one that would make any right minded person cringe, due to that lady’s behavior.
However, as a resident of the UK, I would have to say that I , nor my parents would be alive today if it weren’t for universal healthcare. We have, at times , had private health insurance – as you get things actioned quicker through that, but we have all separately had our lives saved through our NHS and the work they do. Also, our doctors provide us with exemplary service and are generally spot on.
Many people in the UK see this as a vital right, even though our A&E doctors have to put up woth so many drunk patients on a friday and saturday night, paid for by our taxes.
If only Hair transplants were free!!