“Where are my reports?” Dressed in his surgical scrubs, Jake stood arms akimbo in my doorway.
“Good to see you too, Jake. What can I do for you?” Jake was a surgeon at the hospital where I was working as a surgical pathologist, many years ago. In typically brusque fashion, he launched into his demands without a perfunctory greeting.
“Where are my reports?” He repeated.
I smiled. “Which ones?”
“I took some biopsies on several patients over a week ago but the reports are still not in the charts. What’s wrong with you guys?”
I bit my lip. “Let’s see what patients you’re talking about.” I escorted him out of my office and into my secretary’s office next door. “Sally, can we help Dr. Smith? He is looking for the reports on several of his patients.”
Sally nodded. “Sure Dr. Smith. Why don’t you give me the patient’s names?”
Grunting, he rattled off several names. My secretary quickly found the reports and printed out the completed reports. Instead of thanking her, he snarled, “Why weren’t these put in the charts? How long does it take you guys to diagnose these biopsies?”
I rolled my eyes. “Jake, look at the dates on the report. We received it on Monday, the 3rd, and on Tuesday, the 4th, the report was completed. I am giving you less than 24 hour turnaround time. I don’t know why you are not getting your reports but we are not the rate-limiting step!”
“Well someone is screwing up!”
I had enough. “Let’s go to medical records right now and resolve this.” We both walked down the hall to medical records where we were met by one of the attendants. I explained the situation and inquired why our surgical pathology reports were not being uploaded to the respective medical charts in a timely manner. The answer was startling. Pointing to a stack of patient charts behind us, he apologized and said, “We are understaffed and several weeks behind.” I shot a glance at Jake who mumbled to me. “Ok, sorry.”
If Jake had simply taken a few minutes to do what I did instead of immediately jumping to conclusions, he could have saved time and embarrassment. If he had read the Bible, he would have learned an important life lesson.
Spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish.
Proverbs 18:13 (NLT)
God’s wisdom is for everyone, regardless of where one is in their spiritual walk. Learn from Him!
Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.
The Bereans Blog 