Can't Win Them All

Sadly, my first patient canceled, which was disappointing but kind of a part of the dental school experience. Just as patients should realize that appointments can be 3-4 hours long for a cleaning (seriously, I know), students realize that patients can't always make it, especially ones who come from the city and may not have reliable transportation, get time off from their jobs, etc.

I assisted my friend who had a patient who was, shall we say, a tiny bit cranky. Upon viewing the paperwork he had to sign (filling out forms take up about 3/4 of a 3-4 hour appointment (seriously, I know!!!)), the patient made a LOT of noise about wasting his time and the appointment time, the information was redundant, we had everything, etc etc etc. Suffice it to say, the patient stopped answering our questions and the appointment was the most awkward, silent, tense experience I've had so far.

It was really tough to maintain my composure. I kept wanting to ask what was wrong, why he was so out of sorts, to explain why he had to sign and fill out a ton of forms and to explain that this is part of being a patient at a dental school. Here's the question - How do you reach someone who doesn't want to listen? Who is hostile and unquestioningly believes that you are inefficient and incompetent (well...)? For all of my experiences working with angry people in the past, I was completely clueless as to how to manage the appointment and to make everyone happy - the patient and my friend.

That's when you subscribe to this policy:

I can only please one person per day.

Today is not your day.

Tomorrow doesn't look good either.

You just never know what happened to him prior to the meeting. Perhaps he had a bad ride into the school. Maybe he had an argument with his wife. Maybe his job hasn't been going too well (the economy kind of stinks at the moment) and he resents a 3 hour appointment to clean some debris when he could be making money (trust me, I understand).

I told my friend to brush it off (teehee!) and put it behind him. That's all you can do.