This happened a little over a year ago. This is a long story with a proper conclusion. The tl:dr is the title.
I worked in a medical office and had a pretty big role. I was the only person in the office who knew how to do the paperwork for patients and who understood the idiosyncracies that made paperwork acceptable to the corporate machine that is medical insurance in the United States. (If anyone out there has had to fill out Prior Authorizations, Pre Authorizations, FMLA paperwork and write doctor's notes, etc. They know exactly what I'm talking about.) In addition to this I had a very good understanding of every aspect of the office and as a result I would always be the one to cover in each department when someone else called in or was on break or busied with another task.
The issues started when we hired a new doctor into the practice. This doctor was a terrible fit for the team and caused headaches for everyone. Our practice kept 100% of our records electronically and this doctor had previously used paper charts and hand written encounters. This doctor was also technologically challenged to the point that they were unable to look up information about a patient and insisted when they were seeing a patient, their entire chart was printed. This doctor was also incapable of using a printer, so inevitably I or someone else would be wasting time printing this information for them. This doctor was also consistently late with patients and not like 15 minutes. Every day this doctor was running 2-3 hours behind schedule meaning at the end of the day parts of staff (including myself) wouldn't leave until 8 or 9 at night. Beyond these minor grievances, this doctor had endangered the lives of their patients on multiple occasions that I witnessed (and I didn't even work consistently with this doctor, I just witnessed these events when I covered, so there was no telling what else this doctor was doing). I don't want to be too specific because I don't want to violate HIPAA, but I do not use the phrase “endangerment of life” lightly. Patients were often administered the wrong medications and never informed of it and on a number of occasions it induced an anaphylactic reaction. The charts of these patients were also consistently botched by the doctor. (I don't know if the falsification of the records were intentional or just a mistranslation from being hand written but it was consistent in all of their patients and I only know this because my job was using these records for pre and prior authorizations) Also upon being hired into our practice this doctor had a pending liability lawsuit from their previous employer that they did not disclose, which just seemed to confirm my suspicions that this doctor was bad news and would bring more harm to the practice than good.
I reported all of these findings to management/the owners of the practice. I had well put together reports and time stamps, and a paper trail (both physical and digital in email chains) outlining all of the dangerous things this doctor did. Hundreds of pages of examples of this doctor being a terrible human being and being abusive and neglectful to patients and staff alike. I have been in the medical field for several years, I know most doctors are assholes with a god complex and I've worked for several of them. But this doctor took the cake. I've never met a more vile human being. This doctor had a one year contract with us that was coming to an end and I was assured by management it wouldn't be renewed. I was assured by management that once the contract was terminated the reports would go to the proper channels and the whistle would be blown on this doctor to make sure they didn't hurt anyone else again. I trusted this manager fully. I spent 20 hours a day with them, six days a week. I was closer with them than with my family. They supported all of my dreams and endeavors and had helped me through some of the most difficult times in my life. This manager had been a peer, a mentor, a role model, a friend even. Up until this point the absolute best manager in the world on both a personal and a professional level. That's why what happened next hurt so much.
It was the week after the contract had ended and this doctor is still coming in, which I found odd. I assume I mixed up the dates or perhaps the doctor needed some extra time to finish up some loose ends. I didn't read into it too much. Then the folder in my desk with all of the reports on this doctor, a folder only seen by my manager, goes missing and my entire work email in and out box (with digital paper trails) is cleaned out. The same day these files go missing, I am informed by the doctor that their contract was renewed… For another five years. I do not confront management right away as I try to make sense of what is happening. I feel a bit at a loss for what to do. This person that I trusted everything with, lied to my face and stabbed me in the back. I am doing mental gymnastics trying to think of a reason they would do this that isn't nefarious. A few days later another bomb dropped. The position that I was supposed to be promoted to, a position I was promised in private was filled by a new hire. That was the last straw as I finally see clearly what has happened. All of those reports on this awful doctor? They were never going to go through the proper channels. The manager just insisted I keep holding onto the reports until they could find a good time to make them disappear before they ever got reported. The idea that this doctor was ever going to leave? Horse shit. An incompetent doctor is still a doctor, which means the practice can continue seeing a higher volume of patients and get more money. That promotion I was promised, after doing all this hard work and putting up with the bullshit brought on by this doctor? That was just something to distract me while the wool was pulled over my eyes and all my hard work magically disappeared. The carrot at the end of the stick. But, the real kicker, the reason you clicked on this post is yet to come.
About two weeks had passed since all of this happened. I haven't spoken directly to my manager and instead have started surfing on indeed with my resume looking for a new job. I didn't even know how to approach my manager at this point. I felt so betrayed by a person I trusted so much, I didn't even know what to say.
But then my manager approached me.
I was at my desk, working and my manager came up. My manager asks how I am feeling and says that I seem stressed. I don't really know what to say at this point, “of course I'm stressed because you just stabbed me in the back and all the love I have for my job is gone?” I don't say that. I give a half ass response of “yeah, the work is kind of stressful right now, I have a lot to catch up on.” Then my manager asks “what's your sign?” Not sure where this is going I answer “I'm an Aries.” My manager nods, knowingly. “That explains it,” my manager says “I read that Aries' are going to be having a rough one this year. The work is going to be hard and it's only going to get worse.” I am dumbfounded. My manager is standing there sympathetic to my star sign, but unapologetic of their contributions to my stress. Of course I am going to be having a rough year, but not because of my star sign. Because the asshole standing in front of me took complete advantage of my work ethic and dedication to this office. My manager says “I'm here if you need anything,” and walks on with their day. It was at that moment I decided, “I am not coming back here tomorrow.” And I didn't. The next morning, I didn't show up for work. I sent a text midday to the manager that I couldn't do this anymore and I'd be by later to get my shit. All the manager responded with was “understood.” When I went back later to collect my personal belongings my manager had boxed them all up. My manager looked at me as they handed over my things, tight lipped and bleary eyed, like I was the one who betrayed them. I smiled. I smiled right in their face. “Good luck” I said as I walked out the door, a wave of relief washing over me. In that moment, I never felt better.
I quit suddenly, without a plan, without another job offer and I killed what would have been my best reference. From a financial perspective at the time, it wasn't a smart move. I was very worried. I also didn't want to go back into the medical field. After working through the pandemic and now this nightmare, I was disillusioned by my work and it felt pointless to continue it. I went in wanting to help people, but I felt like a disposable cog in the machine made to make money. At this point I was also running an Etsy store part time selling handmade dolls and I had sold four at this point. I decided that while I looked for another job and figured stuff out, I would put more time into my shop. As soon as I decided that, the next day, I shit you not I made ten sales. I don't know how many of you out there believe in divine intervention, but I do. This felt like a pretty clear sign from someone upstairs that this was what I was supposed to do, so that's what I did.
It has been a year and my Etsy store is a full time endeavor. have not gotten a job working for someone else since and I have not looked back. Every month the shop does better and better and I couldn't be happier. It's just me and my boyfriend who helps occasionally with the little things. I basically work all day, every day and I took a massive pay cut, but I feel more fulfilled than I ever have. I get to make people's comfort characters, I get messages and pictures of people interacting with my art and telling me how it changed their lives and brought them so much joy and that is the feeling I had been chasing and failing to find in medicine. That feeling of hope and comfort. I can literally make hope with my two hands and change a life even if it is just with a little doll.
I just wanted to include this conclusion so if anyone out there reading this is in the same awful and hopeless situation I was, I want you to know that there is a beyond and there is hope and that you are deserving and worthy of it. I also recognize that this is antiwork and my happy ending includes “working” but I love what I do so much and it is so imbued with my passion and joy, I don't think it counts 😉