Enjoy your meal … Can you give me your opinion on this rash?
Just because he/she’s your doctor, doesn’t mean you can just ask for medical advice whenever you run into them in a public place. If everyone would ask for a quick checkup whenever they see their doctor having a quiet lunch, that poor man would never get the chance to finish his meal and go back to work.
Resist the urge to ask for a medical opinion if you see your doctor shopping for groceries and leave the questions and worries for the real medical visit. “Doctors are entitled to a personal life, which includes going out in public on occasion … Just like patients, doctors don’t want to work when they are off the clock,” says Dr. Gray.
Can you do just this tiny favor?
Besides ambushing your doctor in their time off and asking for medical opinion, don’t step over the line and ask for a quick consult for your uninsured friend or a medical letter for your employer. Whatever your request, just don’t!
As Dr. Gray explains on HCPLive, no one is above the law, and doctors make no exception; so, don’t ask them for small favors that might get both of you in trouble with your medical insurer or special treatment just because your doctor’s been nice to you.
