So my new partner had his first tantrum. About time. He's been here over a year and you really expect the first real tantrum at a year into a new job. Once the shininess has worn off and grim reality sets in.
I was in bad odor when he was interviewed so the hospital/clinic neither notified me nor invited me to interview him. (I am so comfortable in the dysfunctional family values of my corporation. Just like home.) I did run into him in the hall when he interviewed and I said cheerfully, "Hi, they didn't tell me you were interviewing because they don't want me there. Welcome. Feel free to call me if you have any questions because I'm happy to share my opinions." He didn't call me and took the job anyhow. Hee, hee.
He instantly became head computer geek doctor thank god. Our previous head computer geek provider wasn't a doctor and suffered about it, and any problem with the sucky Electronic Medical Record (EMR) was a USER PROBLEM. It was HIS BABY. We even had a really lovely email fight on the first anniversary of its inception where he sent out a celebratory memo and I rained on his parade. I said I was in mourning for the doctors who were leaving because of it and he accused me of attempting to throttle his first born. He said how would I like it if on MY birthday he came and told me I was getting older and all. I pointed out that the damn EMR was not alive. This was too good not to share, so I printed out the emails and took them to Dr. B. I said, "I thought you were leaving because of the EMR, but the head computer geek provider says that you aren't." Within 24 hours Dr. B. emailed all the medical staff that he was "leaving 100% because of the EMR." and later administration told me that the geek provider wanted to brain me. Oooops. So I was not very popular with the EMR team. I hope to learn diplomacy in my 90s.
Back to our new computer geek doctor. He did clinic three days a week and geeked the fourth day. (Am I disrespectful? Geek works as a verb. Is it an insult? I have respect for geeks but many of them put too many bells and whistles on the systems and I think our current EMR is in the stone ax stage of development.) A few weeks ago he said to me, "Lizard."
"Yes." I replied.
"Do you use this part of the EMR?"
"Which part?"
"This."
I study it. "Nope."
"Never?"
"Never."
Tantrum. "I've been working on that part of the system for the last year. I've sent all of the providers emails about it. Don't you read my emails?"
"Yes."
"????!!"
"Look. I read your emails every time but you write in tech. I don't understand tech. You write about populating the fields and I have no damn idea what you are on about. You don't write in English."
"??&^$^#!!"
"I told you when you were first hired. The first year we had the system, if we asked a question, we were treated like imbeciles. Any problem was a user problem. The system could do no wrong. We quit asking questions."
"???$#^**(^)"
"Look. I'll bet that 90% of the providers you send your emails to don't understand them. We don't talk tech. I can help you. Show me what you are doing each time and let me translate it into English and I'll send the email. Really. If you show me, I'll bet I can make it make sense."
He stomped out.
The offer stands. Still don't understand much of what he sends out.
Currently he isn't sending anything. Hee, hee.
The really delicious addendum is that I told one of the other doctors my age about this educational and informative interaction. She said, "Oh, I'm worse than you. I got so mad about not understanding his emails, that I delete them without reading them."