As the title says, my job requires that I take a very extensive yearly physical. Stress tests, neurological exams, flexibility and motor function…the works. I've been doing this for several years, and it's been one of two doctors every time, both men, who specialize in the medicine specific to the kind of work that I do. Anyway, my most recent physical was today, and it was…unusual.
I showed up to the clinic early. They do all sorts of industrial medicine related stuff here, and I've learned that showing up after 8 means this will be an all day affair. As soon as the doors are unlocked, I check in, fill out my paperwork, and sit down. To my relief, I'm only in the lobby for s few minutes before I'm called into the back. We go through all of the preliminary testing – hearing, vision, oxygen tolerance, stress and heart health – the routine things, then the technician brings me to the examination room to wait for the doctor. It's always been the same guy. There are only two clinics who do these exams, and they each have only one examining doctor.