Topic : Diagnosis

A severe rash prompted a man from a rural area to come to town to be examined by one of my colleagues. After the usual history-taking followed by a series of tests the physician advised the patient that he would have to get rid of the dog that was evidently causing the allergic reaction. As the man was preparing to leave the office, my colleague asked him out of curiosity if he planned to sell the animal or give it away.

“Neither one,” the patient replied. “I’m going to get me one of them second opinions I been reading about. It’s a lot easier to find a doctor than a good bird dog.”

George Hawkins, M.D. in Medical Economics, in Reader’s Digest, January, 1982