My Front Man

My front man is a woman.  I learned the value of a front man in a radiation therapy department when I was a resident, and the front man Paul was a man who greeted one hundred and fifty patients a day with a smile and a word of encouragement. The actual sex of the front man is immaterial—this is the person who sits at the reception desk and welcomes the patients when they arrive for their daily treatment, and bids them good bye when they leave.  For the sake of anonymity I will call my front man of the last five years Mimi.  She is not even 5 feet tall, brunette, and perennially cheerful to the patients, even when she is having a bad day.  She is the alpha and the omega for each visit, and to my patients, the sun rises and sets in her eyes.  I recruited her from the medical oncologists at my last job, although they would say I stole her.  And I am not giving her back.

Anyone who has ever spent time going through cancer treatment will tell you that the person who answers the phone, schedules their first appointment, gives them directions to the center and sits at the front desk sets the tone for the entire experience.  I have heard Mimi on the phone using her “best” voice to schedule that first consultation, even if she is speaking through gritted teeth as they insist that their cancer consultation not interfere with their bridge game, their golf game, their hair appointment or their carpool day, and that they are only available on Tuesdays.  I have heard her sigh softly and explain that no, we don’t schedule new patients at 6:30 am, or at 7 pm, or during your office lunch break, or on Saturdays at 4, no matter how convenient that is for you or how inconvenient our normal working hours from 8 to 5 might be.  I have heard her repeat directions to the same person on three different days, never once chiding the patient for not writing down the instructions.  And I have seen her smile sweetly at angry spouses and best friends who rant and rave that the elevator is too slow, there is no coffee, the traffic was unbearable or the linear accelerator is down.  Mimi understands the simple truth in the equation—they just don’t want to be there, neither patient nor family member, facing down cancer when they were supposed to be enjoying retirement, or celebrating the birth of a baby, or the wedding of their son.  She is the quiet place in their storm, and slowly, gradually they come around.  Mimi loves children, animals and flowers.  She volunteers at a rape crisis center in her spare time.

But lest you think that this little dynamo is a saint, let me let you in on a little secret.  Mimi is a wicked impersonator and a great natural comedian.  Just ask her to pantomime the lady who came in one day for treatment, and in front of the entire waiting room grabbed a bottle of hand sensitizer and gave herself a total body rubdown, including washing her hair with the stuff and reaching inside her clothing, top and bottom, to make sure that every inch was germ free.  Or the aging university professor who thought himself such a Lothario that he would sit on the leather couch facing her desk, legs apart, wearing shorts sans underwear to display his goods.  When Shakespeare said  “All the world’s a stage”, I don’t think he had our waiting room in mind, but Mimi grabs her material where she can.  We are waiting for her stand up debut.

We may lose her eventually to stage and screen, but until then she is the rock of the department, the one we all lean on, and laugh with, and cry to.  In the meantime, my fellow physicians should take note—the person who picks up your phone, who answers the questions with a smile, and who greets your patients and who listens to their problems as they come through that door every day for six to eight weeks is the one person in your office that they will never ever forget. So choose your front man wisely.

5 comments

  1. That is absolutely true!!!!

    The receptionist can make or break a veterinary practice, where people have more choice about which practice to visit. A local practice didn’t give their stellar receptionist any raises and they were shocked at how many clients they lost when she left.

    When I see a physician I evaluate them by their staff. The quality of the staff indicates how aware the physician is. If they tolerate poor behavior, or don’t even know it is happening, then they clearly are not someone I want caring for me.

  2. I hope you pay her well! Many Drs fail to see the appreciation like you do and hire young undereducated not fit for the job people and then wander why in the heck people come in pissy. Your are only as strong as your weakest link. I wish they taught your lessons at med school. As a dental hygienist and social worker . Yes you read that right social work my second career… I see dentist get so caught up in doing treatment for there greed for money there practice falls apart …

    1. Since our university is a “union shop”, I think she gets paid pretty well, although I dont determine her salary. And the benefits are outstanding. I forgot to mention that she drives over 60 miles each way to work!

  3. I am very sympathetic to what you have written here, and I very much do appreciate the kindness of staff in my oncologist’s office. But please keep in mind that working patients who are eager to schedule appointments during their lunch hours may either feel a need to conceal their illness from their employer or coworkers, or may not be given the flexibility from their employer to make appointments during work hours. Although it was technically illegal, my department head was quite fierce with me when she felt that I had had “too many” doctor appointments. This was when I saw numerous doctors over the several months it took to diagnose my rare cancer. She effectively delayed my diagnosis by forcing me to not choose the next available appointment but instead choose the one that suited my boss’s need to see me at my desk during certain hours.

    1. You are quite right to say that it is illegal to discriminate against anyone because of cancer or any other serious medical illness, but you are also right to say it happens all the time. We do try to accomodate the patient’s schedule as much as possible, but a reminder like this always helps. M

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *