.
... should a pdoc be answering or looking at the phone alot during a session?

Does it matter if they have office workers or not?

....should they remember important information you gave them, such as medical conditions or other medications?

what do you expect from a pdoc?

[CantExplain]

No professional should answer the phone when they are in session with you.

[anilam]

From a Pdoc? Not much. The one I saw would take her calls while with me which I was fine with. Cause I was there just for the prescription didn't want to share anything with her.

[ECHOES]

My T does not have staff and will answer her phone only if it's urgent, and I assume that means expected also, as she will tell me ahead of time. I'm fine with it. I wasn't always, and once was very upset when she took a call. I told her I was not happy; then she told me that it was some important medical information she had been waiting on.

Whether a T "should" or not isn't what matters. What matters is what happens between T and the client, in the room. I think that if the T takes calls and the client isn't happy about it, then the client needs to talk with T about that like anything else.

[Rosondo]

Originally Posted by Stringcheese

.
... should a pdoc be answering or looking at the phone alot during a session?

Does it matter if they have office workers or not?

....should they remember important information you gave them, such as medical conditions or other medications?

what do you expect from a pdoc?

If it's a psychiatrist, many are on-call, so need to respond to emergencies with their patients, regardless of having office workers or not. In terms of other therapists, I don't really know, but I think they should not answer their phones. It's not professional. Presumably if they have office workers, only emergency calls will be transferred to them, but even then, I don't really know what their responsibility is to their patients having an emergency. Like do they have to respond right away or can wait till the session is over with someone else.

[archipelago]

I'm in a different situation because my therapist is a psychiatrist so I guess he is my pdoc and many other people's too. But he doesn't just prescribe; he does psychoanalysis so we meet frequently. He often does check his phone but it is only on silent and has only once in 5 years actually taken a call because it was an emergency. I don't mind that he check when it goes off; I think he is just trying to be responsible and he does it in a way that is not intrusive and not distracting.

Your doctor should absolutely know all your meds; that's what they are there for. And they have to keep a file that they should review to make sure. They also are MDs so they should know relevant medical information. It is not only important to making the right prescriptions, but the DSM requires that medical information be factored into making a proper diagnosis. I don't expect mine to remember everything, but if I bring something up in therapy, I don't want to tell the whole history of it all over again. Mine has a great memory and doesn't ever really screw up. But I once had one that couldn't remember my meds all that well when that was basically all he was supposed to do so I would have to spend sessions reminding him and paying good money to do so. I only put up with that for a short time, even though I liked the guy and liked the way he did therapy, but as a prescriber he just was too fuzzy to be reliable.

[Victoria'smom]

should a pdoc be answering or looking at the phone alot during a session? I'm fine with that.

Does it matter if they have office workers or not? Nope

should they remember important information you gave them, such as medical conditions or other medications? I don't care if they remember it as long as when they look in there computer they remember when they read my notes and they do this before I walk in the door.
what do you expect from a pdoc? I want them you be relaxed (more like we're just hanging out), have read my notes before I walk in, allow me to choose medication through suggesting more than one, be honest, answer "If you had to what would you choose?", trust me as much as I trust him/her, listen to why I don't want certain meds and choose accordingly.

[Rzay4]

No my t and pdoc never look at their phones.

I would pretend that I wasn't mad if this happened but deep down inside, I would be fuming. It's your time.

[sunrise]

Originally Posted by Stringcheese

.
... should a pdoc be answering or looking at the phone alot during a session?

Maybe once in a blue moon for a crisis, but not "a lot" during every session. If their phone is "ringing or buzzing", they should put it on silent mode so they won't be distracted.

....should they remember important information you gave them, such as medical conditions or other medications?

I wouldn't expect them to remember it, but to enter it into your chart so they can review it each time you come in. A pdoc may have a case load of hundreds so no, I would not expect them to remember all the details for every client, but they do need a system of recording the information so it is available to them.

[BlessedRhiannon]

Neither my T nor my pdoc ever look at their phones during my appointment time with them. Both remember important things about me, and I appreciate that.

Well - I can't say my T never looks at her phone...she has answered her phone once during session and responded to a text once. Both times, she told me at the start of the session that it might happen and that it was necessary. I was fine with that because she did give me warning.

My Pdoc has an office manager/receptionist that handles all his calls. He's no where near his phone during my appointment and I've never heard it ring. He's also in private practice and not on-call. If there were ever a situation where he was expecting a call that he might have to take, I would hope that he would just let me know ahead of time. It's never been an issue, though.

As far as pdoc remembering important medical information - mine seems to, but he could just be looking at notes before my appointment. I would expect such information to be written in my chart and reviewed by the pdoc before my appointment or at the start of it.