So, over the weekend I was skiing in Utah at this really nice ski resort. Of course, I’m from Texas, so I know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about skiing! I pretty much rolled down the entire mountain!

However, there was on slope in particular that I had a really hard time with. In fact, I fell once and landed directly on my chest. Hard. I think I may have bounced. The impact literally knocked all of the wind out of me. As soon as I hit the snow, my instincts were telling me that something was wrong. My body didn’t feel right inside of me. For the rest of the day, my chest really hurt. It burned. I decided to go down to the ski resort’s first aid, where they told me that I most likely cracked a rib, but without further testing, they couldn’t tell me for sure.

Since, there’s really not much you can do for a cracked rib and I didn’t want to pay out of pocket for x-rays. I decided to just “walk it off.” However, after four days of pain, I decided that I needed to go see my doctor. It got worse on a daily basis, and I just couldn’t take the pain anymore.

My appointment was at 10am. I arrived early and signed in about 9:40. For the first time that I could remember, the entire waiting room was empty. It was just me. Seriously, how often does that happen at a doctor’s office? This was gonna be a breeze, right?

After I was sitting there for about 10 minutes, this lady enters into the waiting room with three (overflowing) shopping bags and a rolling suitcase. I could immediately tell that she worked for some random pharmaceutical company. Basically just a modern-day, legal version of a “drug dealer”, pushing a prescription medication around to doctors everywhere, in every city, every neighborhood. Which apparently includes my doctor..

She taps on the window, and talks to the receptionist. I see smiles all around. Without blinking an eye, she proceeds to walk through a back door of the lobby, to see (my) doctor immediately. Without a wait!

Here I am reading a seven-month old copy of Popular Mechanics, that long-ago exceeded its page-turning essence. I get zero cellphone service, so I can’t surf the internet or check my emails. I am completely incapable of doing anything semi-productive, and consequentially bored out of my mind waiting for my doctor to see me.

All the while wondering what that pharmaceutical rep had to say that was so much more important. The ‘Big Pharma Dealer’ basically got VIP access to see my doctor, who’ve I’ve been going to, and waiting patiently in the lobby, for over fifteen years!

At the very same moment I am pondering this thought, a second pharmaceutical rep comes walking out of the same backdoor. A different pharmaceutical rep, dealing-out a completely different prescription drug. I happen to notice a sparkling smile plastered on her face.

At this point, I am called in to see the doctor. As I enter into the coveted reception area, behind the waiting rooms door, I am greeted with the sight of my doctor talking to the pharmaceutical rep that came in after me. I witness him shake her hand, they share a moment, then she turns and leaves. Obviously, she made a sale… or whatever it is they do.

This all happens as I’m ushered into the smaller, more isolated waiting room.

After another 15 minutes and halfway through a four-month old TIME, the doctor finally comes in to see me. He gets right to the point. “How did I hurt my rib? Why do I think it’s a cracked rib?” He then goes into a monotone lecture of why I shouldn’t self-diagnose myself from reading stuff on the internet. Which I don’t necessarily agree with. I mean, I wouldn’t attempt to treat cancer or AIDS by reading WebMD or some random health forum, but I don’t see ANY harm in seeing what other people experienced when they had a cracked rib.

The entire visit with the doctor lasted maybe 10-13 minutes. maybe!

As I walk out of the room, standing right in front of me, is my doctor talking to a third pharmaceutical rep! Not even twenty seconds after he closes my file, he’s already chatting it up with a “Big Pharma Drug Dealer”

I was a bit offended to tell you the truth. As I stand there emptying out my wallet out to cover my copay. I’m analyzing the body language between my doctor and the pharmaceutical rep. By the way the conversation seemed to be going, it appeared that my doctor was much more interested in what this pharmaceutical rep had to say, then my painful health conditions.

As I am leaving my doctor’s office, chuckling about my ”big pharma epiphany, somebody opened the door for me. And of course, it was another pharmaceutical rep! The fourth pharmaceutical rep I saw, during the overall 45 minutes I was there.

Maybe this is normal, but it just seemed weird to me. It makes me wonder who is more important to doctors… his patients or the pharmaceutical reps that provide him with (legal, yet lethal) drugs.

Flickr Image - Doctor’s Office by Apollo-Jack