I am a new member of Kaiser Permanente. Half of you just recoiled in horror. The other half clearly don’t live in California or have actually been Kaiser patients and realize that it’s a pretty great program.
Yes, my doctor works for my insurance company. There, deal with it. She’s still bright, empathetic, and responsive.
Here’s why I bring it up today: we e-mail. A lot. In fact, I had to check with her to see if I was abusing the emailing system. I’m just not used to being able to email my doctor. She said no, she loves it, carry on. We’ve been dealing with a medical issue I have, and email has been a big help.
Until I noticed that now I can critique her spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Why? Why must I do this? She’s my doctor! Does it matter that she said could “bearly” get away from the office the other day?
Well, yeah, my grammar-minded friends all agree. It does. Because if she gets that wrong, what else is she getting wrong? But don’t we all have areas we excel in over others? You might want me to proofread your email to your boss, but please don’t expect me to know the periodic table of the elements. (That’s what it’s called, right?)
So, because I’m entering into a new relationship with my doctor, I’m willing to look the other way on this one. Until she misspells some type of surgery she thinks I should have. That might be going too far.














