#community practitioners

PSA: when you work in an academic institution and you receive a call from a community provider, it is so important to remember that you are colleagues; take opportunities to educate, not crucify. This is especially important when you are so lucky to be in a tertiary centre with ALL the resources--many of the centres that are calling you for help, advice, or transfer to your centre do NOT have access to these things (hence why they are calling you!). It really grinds my gears when I hear colleagues making comments like, “I can’t believe they did ___, what were they thinking? Obviously they should have done ___.” ...well, no, it was probably not obvious to that provider at the time they saw the patient and with the information and resources they had at the time. By the time you get the call, you’ll probably have had the benefit of some time, and hindsight is 20/20.

Sometimes I find myself talking from the “ivory tower”, and when I catch myself I feel so terrible about it! Our colleagues transferring patients to us are doing the best they can with what they’ve got--the least we can do is meet them halfway. Talking down to or about other providers does not help our patients. And sometimes we find ourselves in the sticky situation of having patients question what other providers did, and usually I find the best answer is, “Unfortunately, I cannot comment on what the other provider saw or thought at that time. They didn’t have the benefit of all this information I have now, since you last saw them. So with this additional information, my impression is ___ and my plan is ___.”