I’m sharing personal anecdotes with these 7 signs of a bad doctor for a few reasons:
First, I want you to know that if you’ve got a crummy doc, you’re not alone. So many people can relate.
Second, it might help you see warning signs in your own care. Maybe you just don’t like your doctor; maybe your doctor is genuinely terrible.
Remember: doctors, like anyone else, are not good just because they chose a profession of prestige and authority. They still have to be competent at what they do—just like the rest of us.
So what are the 7 signs of a bad doctor?
- Your Doctor Doesn’t Listen
- Your Doctor Blames You
- Your Doctor Makes You Feel Rushed
- Your Doctor Doesn’t Ask Clarifying Questions
- Your Doctor Takes It Personally When Medications and Treatments Fail
- Your Doctor Isn’t Personable
- Your Doctor has Bad Patient Reviews
7 Signs Your Doctor Sucks
1. A Bad Doctor Doesn’t Listen
The worst doctor I ever had—The Rheumatologist from Hell™—would barely make eye contact with me. He was always scribbling something in my chart, unengaged and uttering only the perfunctory mm-hmm. At a time when I felt afraid and unsure, this was definitely not helpful.
I let his board know it, too. (Please report bad doctors whose actions cause you actual harm.)
Was he a terrible diagnostician or just bad at relating to me? Either way, I paid a significant price as a chronic pain patient, and I wonder now how many others did too. It’s a big deal and harmful—sometimes life-threatening—to be ignored. Ask me how I know.
2. A Bad Doctor Blames You
There were only so many times I could be told that diet and exercise were my problem before I realized the doctor was making my problem worse by taking the easy out.
As it turns out, all these years later, I’ve still never read a single article confirming that I wouldn’t have brain cancer if I’d just managed to lose 15 pounds. It’s bullshit, but it was fed to me repeatedly.
Sometimes the doctor’s admonition is what it is—fear of fat. Sometimes the extra weight is a result of disability and immobility. Sometimes food is the only scrap of comfort available precisely because no one will listen.
The why doesn’t change this truth:
A failure to see any other possibility or acknowledge an inability to diagnose your condition in spite of an “unideal” weight is a red flag. No one knows everything, and any doctor who can’t accept their imperfection is doing patients a huge disservice.
3. A Bad Doctor Makes You Feel Rushed
The worst doctors I’ve had made me feel like they had somewhere else—maybe even somewhere better—to be.
It hasn’t happened to me a lot, mostly because I’ve been waiting so long in uncomfortable chairs that I’m the one who wants out of there, fast. But when it happens, it’s not subtle. It distracts me from outlining my numerous symptoms, which I have a hard time recounting due to health-related anxieties.
4. A Bad Doctor Doesn’t Ask Clarifying Questions
While I’m relaying my symptoms, I expect my doctor to ask clarifying questions. If I could diagnose myself and knew exactly what was important to share, I would probably just ask for the right tests from the start and save myself a lot of money and a lot of heartache, right?
If I say something like “this hurts” and my doctor wants to know the whens and hows of the pain, I feel much more confident that vital information is being considered. And who doesn’t want a shorter trip to diagnosis because all the facts are being considered, not just the easy ones?
5. A Bad Doctor Takes It Personally When Medications and Treatments Fail
I write a lot about The Rheumatologist from Hell™, but it’s because he so effortlessly did so much emotional damage that I have to work to undo all these years later. Present me wants to scream, “This isn’t about you! Don’t bill me for this crap!”
When Cymbalta (duloxetine) didn’t make me feel better, my old rheumatologist didn’t pivot or refer me to someone he thought might be able to help, he doubled down. He told me I’d hurt more if I didn’t take what he prescribed, and essentially blamed me for non-compliance before I was non-compliant.
6. A Bad Doctor isn’t Personable
Sometimes doctors are emotionally cold and you leave feeling less than human. These are bad doctors, no question about it.
There is a certain level of detachment that’s completely appropriate, but if you walk away feeling less than or othered, it’s not you. More than anything I want you to know it’s not you.
7. A Bad Doctor has Bad Patient Reviews
A single bad review isn’t necessarily a reason not to see a doctor. We all know a lot of complicated factors determine which offices we end up visiting.
Doctors and patients can have bad days, and patients might be more likely to leave complaints on review sites when that happens.
But if you find a lot of reviews addressing the same problems repeatedly, that’s a sign you’ve got a bad doctor. When I feel like I don’t have a choice but to see a physician with a lot of negative feedback, at least I know what I’m walking into. There’s some solace in that.
Reporting a bad doctor for me is a moral imperative. But it’s equally important to share my good experiences too. It takes me only a few minutes to let other patients know what they can expect.
Pro Tip: for reviews, search for your provider on websites like Healthgrades and Vitals.
Share You Experiences with Bad Doctors in the Comments
Those are my own personal 7 signs of a bad doctor. I’ve probably missed some helpful stuff though. Let us all know what warnings you would add to the list by leaving a comment, and read about my fantastic new primary doctor.
PS: if you’re stuck with a bad doctor and trying to make the best of a bad situation, maybe this article will help: How to Get Your Doctor to Listen
PPS: If you need help relaxing because your doctor is lousy, try making weed butter or learning how to Zentangle! (Wink, wink.)
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I’ve had a couple over the years, one male, one female. The problem with both of them was that they didn’t listen and barely made eye contact. Exactly a couple of the things that you mentioned. The woman spent almost the entire appointment typing notes in her computer. I saw both of them exactly once and never went back. I cannot abide a doctor who doesn’t listen and makes me feel like a burden rather than treating me as a patient who has put her care in their hands.
I’m fortunate in that my current doctor is wonderful! She listens, she takes me seriously, she’s empathetic, and she laughs when I make a joke (even if it’s a lame one). I’ve had some good male doctors, but the very best ones I’ve had have been women, with the exception above.
Feels like we’ve had a couple of the same doctors. 😅 Thank heavens for the good ones. I have better odds with DOs than MDs. I think some of the trouble with doctors (beyond personality) is background/training.
I’m so sorry you’ve had poor physicians. My physician father likes to tell the joke, “What do they call the doctor who was last in his class in medical school?” — and the answer is “Doctor.” 🙁
I’ve had a few unfortunate experiences, including one surgeon who told me that if my breasts were larger we might not have even found my (non-cancerous) lesion. Another one, years later, told me that my numb toes were most likely due to too much biking. Didn’t do any tests. Another year passed and I finally saw someone else who drew blood and ultimately I was diagnosed with permanent nerve damage from chronic low B12 and another genetic disease. Another one all but told me I had melanoma and I spent a week a wreck only to find out that I didn’t have melanoma.
You got take them case-by-case, don’t you? No at all are good at what they do.