How to Talk with a Walk-In Patient Instructions
1. Read the following situation and answer the questions below using a minimum of 175 words for each answer.
2. Afterwards, comment on two classmates with at least a paragraph (no less than 6 sentences).
AT THE WORKPLACE
A pharmaceutical representative has just arrived at the office of Dr. Joseph Henderson, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon. The waiting room is swarming with patients waiting to see Dr. Henderson because he was delayed with an unexpectedly complicated lumbar spinal fusion and laminectomy case.
The representative is very insistent, almost belligerent, about seeing the physician immediately, even though she did not have an appointment to see him. In fact, the visit was totally unexpected, as the representative had just been in two weeks ago. Last time the representative was in, she gave Dr. Henderson a variety of readily usable and dispensable medications. She has more of the same today-injectable cortisone with Novocain, muscle relaxants, NSAIDs, and even some Tylenol with codeine. Usually, Dr. Henderson is quite receptive to receiving these samples as they help ease the financial burden on his patients for whom he uses or to whom he dispenses the samples. The office is, in fact, running quite low on these particular medications because of Dr. Henderson's heavy patient load.
Questions:
1. What is your response to the sales representative?
2. Should a representative ever take precedence over scheduled appointments?
3. Does the fact that Dr. Henderson is usually quite anxious to receive any and all samples for his patients enter in as a factor?
4. Does the diminished supply of these samples alter the situation?
5. Can the medical assistant ever accept delivery of any or all of these samples?