Category: Doctors and Patients
PERCEPTIVE DIAGNOSTICIAN
A young
doctor had moved out to a small community to replace a doctor who was retiring.
The older gent suggested the young one accompany him on his rounds so the
community could become used to a new doctor. At the first house a woman
complained:
"I've
been a little sick to my stomach."
The older
doctor said:
"Well,
you've probably been overdoing the fresh fruit. Why not cut back on the amount
you've been eating and see if that does the trick?"
As they
left the younger man said:
"You
didn't even examine that woman. How'd you come to your diagnosis so
quickly?"
"I
didn't have to. You noticed I dropped my stethoscope on the floor in there?
When I bent over to pick it up, I noticed half a dozen banana peels in the
trash. That was what was probably making her sick,"
"Huh,"
- the younger doctor said, - "pretty clever. I think I'll try that at the
next house."
Arriving
at the next house, they spent several minutes talking with an elderly woman.
She complained that she just didn't have the energy she once did.
"I'm
feeling terribly run down lately,"
"You've
probably been doing too much work for the church," - the younger doctor
told her. “Perhaps you should cut back a bit and see if that helps,"
As they
left, the elder doc said:
"Your
diagnosis is almost certainly correct, but how did you arrive at it?"
"Well,
just like you at the last house, I dropped my stethoscope. When I bent down to
retrieve it, I noticed the preacher under the bed."