I don’t see anyone under 18. After all, I’m not a child neurologist.
Dr. Allan M. Block
People will occasionally argue with this policy, claiming that it’s too rigid. Why not 17½? I know that some adult neurologists do see teenagers.
But not me. It’s easier to just have a solid line and stick by it.
So, by habit, I often note someone’s birthday on the schedule to make sure they’re old enough to see me. And, over the years, this has made me realize the passage of time more than a lot of things.
Not much changes in my office. I’ve been in the same building since 2013, had the same furniture for longer, and the same staff since 2004. So it’s easy to lose track of how long I’ve been doing this.
But when I started out I didn’t see anyone born after 1979. Today that’s crept up to 2003. How the hell did that happen?
With that came the even more sobering realization that my kids are now all old enough to be my patients.
Time flies by in this world. You do the same thing day in and day out, and suddenly you’re 20 years older and starting to think about retirement.
We all see ourselves in the mirror each day, but rarely notice the changes. Watching patients grow older, seeing the minimum birth year for them advance, even being surprised when a drug I thought had just come out is now generic – those are the reminders of time’s passage that get my attention at work.
Not that it’s a bad thing. After 20 years I still enjoy this job, and it allows me to support my family. I can’t ask for much more than that.
But each morning I scan through the names and birthdays on my schedule, and am amazed when I think about how clearly I remember my first day of medical school, college, and even high school like it had just happened.
Dr. Block has a solo neurology practice in Scottsdale, Ariz.