In this video, Mikhail Varshavski, DO, who goes by "Dr. Mike" on YouTube, asks other physician-YouTubers about the worst things they've heard their colleagues say.
Following is a partial transcript of the video (note that errors are possible):
Varshavski: I asked a bunch of doctors what is the worst thing that they heard another doctor say. I'll go first.
When I was a third-year medical student and I was on my surgical rotation, I watched a surgeon make a mistake in the midst of a procedure and then say, "Not that big of a deal. The patient is a UPS worker, might as well get disability." I thought that was a heartless, cruel statement and it was clear that this doctor was incredibly disconnected from the empathetic side of healthcare.
Anthony Youn, MD: My name is Dr. Anthony Youn and I'm a board-certified plastic surgeon. I'm a YouTuber and a podcaster. I was in my training and I was working with another plastic surgeon, and we were performing liposuction on an African American woman who was HIV positive. Now, we had gotten about an hour or two into the operation and we really didn't create a whole lot of a change with her when all of a sudden he said, "That's it, we're done." I looked at him and I looked at the patient. I said, "You know, we could do a bit more to get her a better result," and he said, "You know what? I gave her a discount and she has got HIV anyway, so let's just quit."
Siobhan Deshauer, MD: Hi, I'm Dr. Siobhan Deshauer, although online you may know me as Violin MD. I'm a rheumatologist, so I specialize in joints and autoimmune diseases.
Back when I was a resident, I was studying for my licensing exam and one of my supervisors walked by, and with a completely straight face, said, "Don't worry about studying so much. That's why we have malpractice insurance." At the time, I just laughed it off, but after spending a couple of weeks working in his clinic I couldn't help but wonder maybe he wasn't joking.
Rocio Salas-Whalen, MD: Hi, I'm Dr. Rocio Salas-Whalen and I'm an endocrinologist and obesity board-certified physician. The worst thing that I have heard another doctor say -- and this was to a patient in labor in the delivery room, a woman who was in labor -- and this female doctor was doing a pelvic exam, a digital exam, to see how much she was dilated. The patient was screaming out of pain and this doctor told the patient, "Well, I'm sure when your husband was sticking it up inside of you, you were not complaining of pain. Right? So suck it up." Awful.
Alok Patel, MD: Hi, my name is Dr. Alok Patel. I'm a pediatric hospitalist. If a child is hospitalized, my people are on it.
I once took care of a patient whose family only wanted to be seen by white healthcare professionals. The father straight up said, "We do not want to see any Black, Hispanic, Asian, or Indian doctors or nurses." It became a thing. It was handled. But in the break room I overheard one doctor defend the family. This doctor was like, "Hey, if they want to only see white people, like let them only see white people." It kind of went down in the break room, there was some drama, because that's not right.
Antonio Webb, MD: What's up, guys? I'm Dr. Antonio Webb, a board-certified orthopedic spine surgeon, also called the back doctor. One of the worst things I have ever heard a doctor say to a patient is, "This is my first time doing this procedure. Wish me luck."
Chi McBride: Oh, hell no!
Austin Chiang, MD: Hello, my name is Austin Chiang and I am an interventional gastroenterologist. One of the worst things I have heard other doctors say is that other health professionals like nurses, medical assistants, technicians, etc. are somehow less important than doctors, and that couldn't be further from the truth. We literally could not do our jobs as doctors without the help of everyone else and it takes everyone coming together to take care of the patients. I can't tolerate that because that sort of disrespect is what's contributing to a lot of burnout and why people are leaving the field. We just need to respect each other more and value what everyone brings to the table to get this to work.
Dana Brems, DPM: Hi, I'm Dr. Dana and I'm a podiatrist, which is a foot and ankle specialist and surgeon. Occasionally, I have heard doctors speak negatively about their patient while they are in the operating room asleep and I just think this is wildly inappropriate. The patient is in a vulnerable position and it's just not OK to talk this way. It's certainly something that I never tolerate in my operating room.
Jake Goodman, MD: My name is Jake Goodman and I'm in my last year of psychiatry residency. The worst thing I have ever heard a doctor say about a patient was, "It's all in his head. It's not real." In our head is a really complex thing called a brain. It's an organ just like any other organ in your body and it can get sick, just like with your other organs. If your pancreas gets sick, you can get pancreatitis. If your lungs get sick, you can get emphysema. If your brain gets sick, you can get depression or anxiety, [post-traumatic stress disorder], psychosis, and insomnia. It's in our heads, but that doesn't make it not real. It's as real as any other medical condition.
Rena Malik, MD: Hi, I'm Dr. Rena Malik, urologist and pelvic surgeon. A urologist is a medical and surgical doctor of the genitourinary tract. We, urologists, take care of a lot of things. That includes cancer, sexual health for both men and women, bladder health, and so much more. The worst thing I have heard people say has come from trainees and they have said that they don't want to go into a specialty like mine that takes care of annoying women. Now, this is a real problem because there is a ton of bias against women in medicine, even as patients, and because of it women have worse outcomes and get listened to less often. It's time to change that.
Watch the video above for more.
, is a board-certified family physician and social media influencer with more than 12 million subscribers.