Which one of these two would you prefer to have as your doctor?
Dr AAA, a Professor, from whom, after you’ve used his ordinary email address to send him a letter, you get a good response, obviously from the Professor himself, sent from his iPhone, in just over an hour! Almost too good to be true!
OR
Dr BBB, also a Professor, from whom, after you’ve used his ordinary email address to send him a letter you’ve heard nothing after 6 days. So you send him another letter asking if he got your first one, and 3 days later, you get an email from his practice manager, saying, “We received your email the other day and were waiting to present it to Professor BBB. Due to his busy schedule this hasn’t been actioned as of yet.” And a further 3 days later, it still hasn’t been actioned! So 12 days later, nothing! Almost too bad to be true!
The irony of this is that it would have taken Professor BBB 30 seconds or less to provide the “Yes” or “No” response which was all that the letter emailed to him required, himself, or to instruct one of his staff members to provide it. Just like it would have taken Professor AAA no longer than 30 seconds to provide the answer he provided.
As we’re always saying, “By their emails ye shall know them.”
If you’re considering using a particular doctor, think of a question to ask them, and email it to them. By their response or lack of response you’ll know a fair bit about them before you consult them. And of course, always look for doctors who have ordinary email addresses – all other things being equal, don’t bother with those who don’t.
Of course, this last sentence doesn’t apply to GPs in Sydney, just to specialists, as hardly any of them have ordinary email addresses.