I have a doctor friend who swears that her previously tidy, neat handwriting has gone downhill ever since she obtained her medical license. And I cannot — for the life of me — ever remember receiving a prescription that was decipherable.
Perhaps the AMA makes chicken scratch handwriting a requirement? 😛
Via A Cartoon Guide to Becoming a Doctor.
P.S. — For an example of how a doctor’s bad handwriting made me the laughingstock of my then-office, take a look at this post from 4 years ago.
Sugar Scientist
My husband said when he was in medical school, he was under such pressure to take notes so quickly (and then the same with singing charts as a resdident) that you really have no choice but to turn to chicken-scratch writing. Of course, now that more and more hospitals are turning to an electronic format, handwriting becomes less of an issue.
Arti
This is great! My mom is a doctor and hers is definitely the “teeny tiny” script haha 🙂
Heather
Too funny. My husband is a chiropractor and has terrible writing. I remember asking him, which came first? Did you have terrible penmenship, so figured you should be a doctor, or did your penmenship become terrible in chiropractic school? Haha.
Michelle
Funny. I am a doctor and I can read most of the above! I do try to print nicely for prescriptions though.
Amy
I have type 7 (illegible) luckily this is why phone dictation systems and electronic medical records (with typed notes) and electronic prescription filling was invented!
Gerald Phillips
It’s strange I can read all other Doctors handwriting but I cannot read my own 🙂
Gerald Phillips
I need to amend >all other Doctors hand writing< I am not a medical Doctor but a psychoanalyst