126 Becoming a Patient
individuality, and identity devastated them, and illness taught many the
costs of dependency, uncertainty, and humiliation. They learned how
patient time, doctor time, and hospital time conflicted; how ‘‘a person
waiting is a person suffering’’; and how poor access to a doctor can rein-
force disturbing feelings of dependency and loss. They complained, too, of
indirect or nonexistent communication, particularly about taboo topics
such as mental health and sexual problems or side effects, as well as of
verbal or nonverbal insensitivity and trivialization of problems. Physician
hubris facilitated poor communication, and precluded self-awareness.
Yet these doctors had trouble reconciling their new experiences as
patients with the fact that in the past they, too, had sometimes kept
patients waiting and had not promptly phoned patients back. The pro-
fession hampered awareness of many of these concerns, further high-
lighting the degree to which it viewed and constructed patients as
unequal, distant ‘‘others.’’
These doctors became more aware, too, of how definitions concerning
time varied widely (e.g., what it meant for disease to progress ‘‘slowly’’ or
‘‘rapidly’’). Moreover, as a result of competing time demands, test results
and treatments fell ‘‘between the cracks.’’
Doctors structured time in ways that patients had to follow (e.g., in
the waiting room), reflecting and reinforcing authority relationships
within these settings. What happens when disagreements resulted? Sally
felt compelled to go ‘‘on strike,’’ exercising what she felt was her only
option. As a doctor, she felt empowered to refuse her doctor’s orders.
Presumably, lay patients would not feel as empowered to do so.
Within a culture, time is socially constructed, but clearly may be ex-
perienced differently by various groups (i.e., doctors and patients). Sur-
prisingly, heretofore these doctors were not aware of how much their
patients’ experiences clashed with their own. One’s experience of time
helps shape, but can also limit, one’s point of view.
Though questions emerged of whether these ill physicians’ complaints
and expectations were reasonable, these doctors felt their standards were
fair. Still, it remains unclear how to reconcile their expectations with the
‘‘reality’’ that the profession has difficulty meeting these standards. Pro-
fessional and public education needs to find more effective solutions to
address these discrepancies, obstacles, and dilemmas. As we shall see,
increased awareness of these barriers can help.