Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

The exam room post-election

Megan S. Lemay, MD
Physician
November 20, 2016
Share
Tweet
Share

It’s Wednesday, the day after the election. I spent the previous night clicking from one website to another, trying to find someone who was refuting what the others said was true. And when it became inevitable, I held my infant twin boys and cried.

Now I’m in front of my exam room, walking in to see Mr. Bundy. I open the door to find him wearing a red hat embroidered with the words “Make America Great Again.”

“Hey, Doc!” He says with a warm smile. It takes me a few moments to respond.

“Hi … Mr. Bundy.”

He’s a white man in his late 50’s, thin with salt and pepper hair. He was laid off from his factory job about eight years ago, and has been getting by with odd jobs since then. I know that he buys his heavily-subsidized insurance on the health exchange.

I find myself wondering for the first time what he thinks of me. A woman. His doctor. Does he think I’m capable? Does he think I’m equal to the male physician he saw before me? The patient who sits before me is proud to support a man who gloats about the perverse control he holds over women and their genitalia. He supports a man who convinced the country that a woman can’t be as powerful as he is. But, Mr. Bundy is here to see me, his female primary care physician.

Earlier this morning, I saw a patient who is Muslim, originally from Pakistan. He was there to talk about his diabetes, but I felt the acute need to apologize to him — to somehow let him know that even though our leader-elect doesn’t think he belongs here, I do. The exam room is not the place for that conversation to happen, of course. So, I instead asked him to schedule both a six month and one-year follow-up appointment with me. I wished for him to interpret my secret message: “I want you to be here for a long, long time.”

I find myself worrying about my patients a lot today. What will happen to my patients from foreign countries? Will they feel unwelcomed and leave to uncertain medical care back home? What will happen to my patients with asthma when he reverses our environmental progress? How often will I treat their labored breathing in the coming four years? What about my patients who are poor, dependent on government services to eat and survive? To those who are barely making it, vulnerable, sick? How will their lives change?

I worry about Mr. Bundy. He has emphysema and high blood pressure. Without the protections of the Affordable Care Act and the health exchange, he will be uninsured. How will he afford his expensive inhalers?

Of course, I won’t argue with Mr. Bundy today. I won’t ask him how he can support a man who preaches hate and intolerance. I won’t ask him if he thinks it’s appropriate to call the former Secretary of State a “nasty woman” on live television. I won’t tell him how hurt I am that a man who blatantly objectifies and sexualizes women will hold the highest office in the country. No, I will be his doctor today. For any part of him, that feels a woman is lesser, weak, unworthy, I will be great. I will work harder for him, guide him, and lead him to good health. To be a valuable, powerful, deserving physician and woman will be my best defense.

I gather my thoughts.

“Mr. Bundy! How am I supposed to examine you with that hat on?” I ask with a smile.

He laughs and takes the hat off. Finally, I can focus.

Megan S. Lemay is an internal medicine physician. 

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

ADVERTISEMENT

Prev

Why physicians need to organize

November 19, 2016 Kevin 14
…
Next

The disappointment of mothers in medicine

November 20, 2016 Kevin 6
…

Tagged as: Primary Care

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Why physicians need to organize
Next Post >
The disappointment of mothers in medicine

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Megan S. Lemay, MD

  • Medicine in the shadow of the Confederacy

    Megan S. Lemay, MD
  • A fellow physician to Governor Northam: You must resign

    Megan S. Lemay, MD
  • Maybe men should have their salary reduced to the lowest paid female physician in their practice

    Megan S. Lemay, MD

Related Posts

  • The many firsts of the 2020 election

    Anjani Amladi, MD
  • A physician’s addiction to social media

    Amanda Xi, MD
  • The post-baccalaureate pre-health program experience

    Sheindel Ifrah
  • Talking politics in the exam room

    Hayward Zwerling, MD
  • The case against the Step 2 Clinical Skills Exam

    Madeline Wozniak
  • Patients in Sweden received fewer post-op opioids. Why is that?

    Richard Young, MD

More in Physician

  • Why judgment is hurting doctors—and how mindfulness can heal

    Jessie Mahoney, MD
  • Why evidence-based management may be an effective strategy for stronger health care leadership and equity

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • The gift we keep giving: How medicine demands everything—even our holidays

    Tomi Mitchell, MD
  • From burnout to balance: a neurosurgeon’s bold career redesign

    Jessie Mahoney, MD
  • Why working in Hawai’i health care isn’t all paradise

    Clayton Foster, MD
  • How New Mexico became a malpractice lawsuit hotspot

    Patrick Hudson, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • How New Mexico became a malpractice lawsuit hotspot

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • Why doctors are reclaiming control from burnout culture

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • Why health care leaders fail at execution—and how to fix it

      Dave Cummings, RN | Policy
    • 5 blind spots that stall physician wealth

      Johnny Medina, MSc | Finance
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • Why flashy AI tools won’t fix health care without real infrastructure

      David Carmouche, MD | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • Why judgment is hurting doctors—and how mindfulness can heal

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
    • Why medical schools must ditch lectures and embrace active learning

      Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA | Education
    • Why helping people means more than getting an MD

      Vaishali Jha | Education
    • How digital tools are reshaping the doctor-patient relationship

      Vineet Vishwanath | Tech
    • Why evidence-based management may be an effective strategy for stronger health care leadership and equity

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why health care leaders fail at execution—and how to fix it

      Dave Cummings, RN | Policy

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 28 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • How New Mexico became a malpractice lawsuit hotspot

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • Why doctors are reclaiming control from burnout culture

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • Why health care leaders fail at execution—and how to fix it

      Dave Cummings, RN | Policy
    • 5 blind spots that stall physician wealth

      Johnny Medina, MSc | Finance
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • Why flashy AI tools won’t fix health care without real infrastructure

      David Carmouche, MD | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • Why judgment is hurting doctors—and how mindfulness can heal

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
    • Why medical schools must ditch lectures and embrace active learning

      Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA | Education
    • Why helping people means more than getting an MD

      Vaishali Jha | Education
    • How digital tools are reshaping the doctor-patient relationship

      Vineet Vishwanath | Tech
    • Why evidence-based management may be an effective strategy for stronger health care leadership and equity

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why health care leaders fail at execution—and how to fix it

      Dave Cummings, RN | Policy

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

The exam room post-election
28 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...