Dr. Emily's Blog

Why are post marketing surveys so popular now?  It seems as though every interaction we have generates a survey request.  You purchase an appliance--a survey arrives.  You use a video chat application--another survey.  You listen to an audiobook--you are asked to write a review.  Speak on the phone with a customer representative and invariably you’ll be asked to complete a survey about your experience.  You hire a repair person--another survey.  It’s overwhelming.  You could spend all your time doing nothing but surveys.  I remember having my car serviced at a San Francisco dealership and the poor representative followed me out to my vehicle as I was leaving to plead privately for ratings of  “excellent on all items”,  explaining that a “good” was considered as terrible as a “poor” rating for them.  Interactions like that give the impression that surveys are being used to pressure and control customer service workers instead of...

   By the time you are reading this the election will have been completed. We may not have a final result, but the voting will be over.  Our country is extremely politically divided right now and tensions are at an all-time high, but when discord slips into threats towards physician leaders and bullying of medical organizations, things have gone too far.   I come from a family whose members have a variety of political opinions, as I imagine many of you do.  Some are democrats, but others are republican, libertarian, green or something else altogether. If we only ever loved those who have identical ideologies a lonely world ours would be. Our differences make us interesting, and diversity lends balance to society. As a county, we must remain civil and respectfully strive to reach sensible compromises.  If families can disagree, but come together in ways that only families can, our country can do this as well. However, right now, in the midst of a pandem...