Is there a (moderately pleasant) doctor in the house?

I'd love to know whether medical schools teach a course in developing a humane bedside manner.

If so, is it optional?

Although I’ve been blessed with generally good health over the years, I’ve seen my share of doctors. And while most of them had well-developed social skills, some had no familiarity with the Golden Rule.

Recently, for example, I had an appointment with a specialist whom I’d never met. It was clear from the moment he entered the examining room that he saw me as a bothersome intrusion.

If I had not put out my hand when he walked in, I’m quite sure he would not have offered his own. He shook hands as perfunctorily as possible, like I might do with a pesky salesman. That's when I began to suspect things would not go well.

Sitting down, the doc quickly rattled off an impressive list of facts and statistics and potential outcomes, all while making very little eye contact. He acted as if he was going through the motions of lecturing yet another group of low-functioning students.

He seemed incapable of hiding his annoyance whenever I had the audacity to interrupt his monologue with a question. I had the sense that he was struggling mightily not to glance at his watch every 30 seconds or so.

When the appointment was over, he raced out the door with no more than a hurried parting word or two.

Maybe he was having a bad day.

Perhaps his schedule had been overbooked, or his personal life was in disarray, or he saw me after giving another patient some very bad news.

Maybe he has health problems of his own.

Or maybe he’s just a brilliant misanthrope who should be closeted away in a research lab somewhere, instead of providing direct care to actual human beings.

If I were a betting man, I’d put my money on that last option. Even though I left this guy's office with an encouraging diagnosis, I was more put out by the doctor's rudeness than I was encouraged by what I learned from him. Only later, as I drove home, did my gratitude win out over my frustration.