I went to the doctor's today. I was feeling unwell, and needed to get my Medical Certificate. I went into the room, and the doctor was an old lady whom you can mistake for any random auntie at the wet market. "So what's wrong with you?" she asked.
"I have the flu." I replied.
"Flu? You cannot tell me you have the flu. Do you know that everything can be called the flu? Even a headache can be considered a flu. Just tell me the symptoms."
"I have a blocked nose, and light-headedness. Headache." I replied, stung by her mini outburst. I did not expect that. Last time I checked, a flu was a flu.
She proceeded to scribble something on her pad in illegible handwriting. She then checked my throat with a ice-cream stick. Apparently I have slightly swollen tonsils.
"I am going to give you antibiotics..." she murmured to herself while writing on the pad.
"What? No.. no need lah. Not so serious," I told her, after a brief second of digesting what she has told me. I went in with mild flu. I don't need antibiotics!
"Patient not keen on antibiotics.." She continued to murmur to herself, and struck out what she wrote previously. "I'll give you some medication for your blocked nose, and another one to reduce the redness of your tonsils, ok?" She scrambled around the table to find something.
"OK," I replied, surprised again at how easy it was to refute her prescription. Got my Medical Certificate though, which was the whole point of my visit.
When I got home, I googled the medication she prescribed me. The flu med was legit, but the Korzen (Serratiopeptidase) is really quack medicine. According to Wikipedia (I still trust it, some): "Some alternative medicine proponents claim that serratiopeptidase is beneficial for pain and inflammation but "existing trials [have been] small and generally of poor methodological quality."
The doctor had been one for a very long time. She is a doctor, and thus whatever she prescribes would be the right medicine. She chided me for going to her with a bad description of complaint, and proceeded to give me an extreme medication. I refuted it easily and she was confused. The medication at the end was 50% right. I got my medicate certificate though, it was an official document I needed that she issued, because only she can.
Perhaps it's time I go to another doctor.
"I have the flu." I replied.
"Flu? You cannot tell me you have the flu. Do you know that everything can be called the flu? Even a headache can be considered a flu. Just tell me the symptoms."
"I have a blocked nose, and light-headedness. Headache." I replied, stung by her mini outburst. I did not expect that. Last time I checked, a flu was a flu.
She proceeded to scribble something on her pad in illegible handwriting. She then checked my throat with a ice-cream stick. Apparently I have slightly swollen tonsils.
"I am going to give you antibiotics..." she murmured to herself while writing on the pad.
"What? No.. no need lah. Not so serious," I told her, after a brief second of digesting what she has told me. I went in with mild flu. I don't need antibiotics!
"Patient not keen on antibiotics.." She continued to murmur to herself, and struck out what she wrote previously. "I'll give you some medication for your blocked nose, and another one to reduce the redness of your tonsils, ok?" She scrambled around the table to find something.
"OK," I replied, surprised again at how easy it was to refute her prescription. Got my Medical Certificate though, which was the whole point of my visit.
When I got home, I googled the medication she prescribed me. The flu med was legit, but the Korzen (Serratiopeptidase) is really quack medicine. According to Wikipedia (I still trust it, some): "Some alternative medicine proponents claim that serratiopeptidase is beneficial for pain and inflammation but "existing trials [have been] small and generally of poor methodological quality."
The doctor had been one for a very long time. She is a doctor, and thus whatever she prescribes would be the right medicine. She chided me for going to her with a bad description of complaint, and proceeded to give me an extreme medication. I refuted it easily and she was confused. The medication at the end was 50% right. I got my medicate certificate though, it was an official document I needed that she issued, because only she can.
Perhaps it's time I go to another doctor.
I hope you're feeling better. What's up with Singaporean doctors and antibiotics? They prescribe it for everything.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see you and Scott at the end of the month!