If I need my T to fill out paperwork, he does it during my session, so I am paying him for this service. I try to keep requests to a minimum as I don't like to waste my session on paperwork. I wish he would do the paperwork on his own time, but he would be uncompensated for that, since he is private practice, and I understand if he did these things for all his clients uncompensated, it would add up to a lot of hours of time he doesn't have as well as lost income.

I had a situation with my family doctor recently where I needed her to certify I was in good health as a requirement for my beginning nursing school. This was a major, major hassle and almost caused me to drop her as my physician because she was so uncooperative. This almost cost me being able to enter the nursing program because she wouldn't do the paperwork, which was not that extensive--a brief letter was all it required. I gave her 6 weeks advance notice. Still makes me grrrrr to think about this. And I have been a longterm patient of hers and given her many dollars for care of myself and my family. At one point, because she didn't want to write the letter, she asked if she could just send a photocopy of my chart. Hell, no!! I looked at what she proposed sending and it was over a dozen pages long and had all sorts of info I didn't want my program administration to know and that they were not asking to know--all sorts of confidential stuff, like number of sexual partners. Honestly! She was soooo lazy and then seemed really put out when I told her I did not want a photocopy of my chart. I wonder who filled out her forms for entrance to medical school? I guess she's forgotten how it was when she needed help. It's also disturbing she would so freely give out all this unnecessary confidential information about me--this was not a requirement of the nursing program. Since this doc was not forthcoming with the letter and I worried I would get it in time and not be able to start nursing school, I went to see my gynecologist, also a longtime provider of mine, and asked her, in person, if she would write a letter. She was very understanding and said yes she would and agreed to send it right away--deadline was only 1 week away. I was very grateful to her. I didn't know if the school would accept a gyno letter but I figured it was better than nothing. Anyway, I did end up getting the letter from the first doctor (the day before it was due), so I didn't need the gyno's letter after all. But here's the thing--3 weeks after the deadline, I received the gyno's letter in the mail! She had totally put my request for a letter on the back burner. If I had depended on her, it would have been way too late. What is with it with these doctors? It makes me appreciate my T's system better. He does the paperwork on the spot in our session and then hands it to me personally. No chance for him to forget or blow it off.