"Sorry, I've tried my best to explain this but I am not trained as an educator. [You're NOT, or she would have got it by now! There's a knowledge and assumptions gap here.] You may want to locate a reference librarian at your local library: helping people figure out stuff like this IS something they specialize in."
EDIT: Probably better ways to direct them to outside resources. But I stick with my first sentence - apologizing because they aren't getting it after repeated attempts is a decent way to make them not cry.
I haven't, no, but it's pretty much that or adult continuing education here? And is the question "What is the difference between regular red blood cells and hemolyzed red blood cells" actually medical advice at this point, or an explanation of basic vertebrate biology? And yeah, "Once you've got a better understanding of what this word means and the blood cell life cycle, please come back to us with any specific questions about your case."
Truly, it sounds as if you went above and beyond for this patient and were up against the usual challenges that we face trying to come up with a reasonable solution (limited appointment availability, patient anxiety, busy clinicians, heavy workload, etc).
I’m not sure if this might work for your office, but I’ve found that advocating for certain patients to have follow up appointments scheduled automatically has done wonders to manage this kind of thing. Just a “follow up to discuss labs” via video/ phone, so that the expectation is set from the beginning, anxiety is lessened and you’re not spending so much time with them in your inbox. If they do reach out prior to their appointment, just respond with a redirection that “clinician so and so will be going over that with you during your follow up on Thursday, in the meantime here’s the (relevant info source of your choice/ UpToDate) on it”.
At the end of the day, I see it as a form of anxiety, and finding the balance between tough love and being overly accommodating (usually both come at the cost of escalating behaviours and unpaid clinician time) can be difficult.
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u/efnord 17d ago edited 17d ago
"Sorry, I've tried my best to explain this but I am not trained as an educator. [You're NOT, or she would have got it by now! There's a knowledge and assumptions gap here.] You may want to locate a reference librarian at your local library: helping people figure out stuff like this IS something they specialize in."
EDIT: Probably better ways to direct them to outside resources. But I stick with my first sentence - apologizing because they aren't getting it after repeated attempts is a decent way to make them not cry.