Dr. Vegas’ Monthly Blog:
Dermatology Notes from Dr. H.L. Greenberg
When expectations are not met there is an emotional response. I have been a life long Denver Broncos fan, having grown up in Colorado and watched NFL football games with my family. As a high school student, I was jealous of my younger brother going to a Super Bowl with my father because he was a, “Bigger Fan” than I was and my family only had 2 tickets to the big game. Since missing my first opportunity to go to the Super Bowl, I promised myself that one-day, I would go to the Super Bowl with my father. This past Sunday I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to take my father to the Super Bowl- it was an amazing experience. Our seats were fantastic and the stadium energy vibrant. However, as a Bronco’s fan I had certain other expectations of the game that were not met. 12 seconds into the game the Broncos made an error that cost them 2 points and the game only got worse from there. Instead of a competitive game, I witnessed error after error and was left with very little opportunity to cheer on my team as they went on to lose 43 to 8. The expectations I had of my team’s performance and the game’s outcome were not met, and I was upset.
As a patient you may have certain expectations of your Las Vegas Dermatology® office visit. Many of you will have waited quite a long time for your visit and are anticipating a certain outcome or experience. Before visiting with any physician you should have realistic expectations such as: to be treated in a timely fashion, to be treated with respect, to be heard and to have your questions answered. Ideally you will have an easy to identify problem that is readily treated at a very low cost. Conversely, you could have an extraordinarily difficult case to diagnose that is hard to treat with a very high cost. Although you may have other expectations of your office visit, it is possible that those expectations may not be realistic or occur at all. Instead of having an emotional response to unmet unrealistic expectations, realize that the ultimate goal for any office visit is for the patient to have their needs met.
Who would have thought that the highlight of Super Bowl XLVIII for me would be Bruno Mars’ halftime show? Certainly not my expectation! Although the ultimate outcome and the poor performance of my team during the game was not what I wanted or expected, I was able to have a once in a lifetime experience with my father and I am happy to have checked the Super Bowl off of my bucket list.
