What if a doctor writes a shopping list or a to-do list? Would you rather take it to a pharmacist? We all have looked at our prescriptions full of doctor jargons and sighed! A CAPTCHA that only pharmacists can decipher!
Doctor handwriting memes make good social media content. Recently a tidy prescription in BLOCK LETTERS has gone viral on the internet. The doctor who wrote this neat prescription is a pediatrician at Community Health Centre in Kerala’s Palakkad.
The photo was posted on Facebook last week by Bency SD. Dr. Nitin Narayana changed people’s perceptions by making the prescription easy to read. While reporting Dr. Nitin talked about his penchant for writing.
He quoted how copybook practices helped him hone his writing skills even after he completed his studies.
Speaking to AsiaNet, Dr. said,
“I write my prescription in block letters. The other doctors write it legibly because maybe they are busy. I try my best to write prescriptions legibly even when I’m busy. People often appreciate this."
What makes a doctor’s handwriting illegible?
Doctors have to write lengthy essays during their academic years. Their writing eventually evolves into a scribble coming from a 3-year-old drawing book. Let humor slide, with the clock ticking, patients adding to the queue, and medical histories playing on repeat. Doctors get overworked and rush to attend to all patients.
This takes us back to 13 Aug 2020 Orissa High Court’s advice to use a capital letter or legible handwriting. Even a minuscule error in dose, use, and frequency could land a patient in the hospital.
In a circular issued by MCI, in September 2016 physicians were instructed to use capital letters to avoid medico-legal implications. In the digital health era, the use of electronic prescriptions should be implemented.
Thanks to Dr. Nitin Narayana for saving the pharmacist from eye strain!
