Tuesday, August 15, 2006

A Doc's Life - More Memorable Moments (P.S. 6)

This letter to the papers today reminds me of the naivete of some of the patients when it comes to matters related to their health or bodily functions.

Scenario: 3rd year Med School - Community health project for SMPH (Social Medicine & Public Health, now known as COFM - Community Occupational & Family Medicine). My clinical group did a project on hypertension & obesity; to gather data, we had to go to various units in HDB estates to measure BP, take height & weight etc.

Head of this particular family was a gentleman in his 40's with 4 daughters. As we were about to leave after gathering the neccessary info, he pulled me aside & asked: "I only have daughters. Is it because I only eat fish & don't eat meat?"

Me: "Er, no."

Him: "So what kind of diet should I take so that I can have a son."

Me: "Er, doesn't matter, what you eat won't affect the sex of your child. But for your health, please eat a balanced diet."


Not sure if he believed me or not.

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