noncompliance: disagreement, disobedience, dissent, objection, protest, refusal , defiance, rebellion, sabotage

The list of synonyms could go on and on....

The rest of the week has definitely gone uphill from my last two posts. I finally had my first "kid" patient - a crossover who just got old enough to leave Peds and come to the adult side... and even though it was a not so interesting case, I was hyped on the fact that I had a kid at all. Before she went home, we had a long talk on noncompliance with medications... which is an issue we face every single day in IM.

Medical noncompliance frustrates me to no end. I find myself having to bite my tongue to keep from saying what I really mean when I tell a patient "you have to take your medicines... if not, you're going to end up right back here again". But then they do... over and over and over again.

When I get super frustrated, I get to thinking about non-compliance in general. And I realize that even I suffer from this human error in some form or fashion every day. Just because I take my medications when the doctor tells me to certainly doesn't mean I'm compliant with every aspect of my life. Reading my bible for example.... ashamedly, I find myself extremely non-compliant with that. And I wonder if God feels the same way, like he just wants to shake some sense into me..... probably.

I'll try harder this week to be less frustrated with you not taking your medicines, even if it's gonna kill you. Because not taking care of myself spiritually could also kill me... and I do that way too much. I'll work harder to be more compliant and to help you understand how important it is that you join me.

Some days, it's amazing the lessons you learn from your patients... in the strangest places