Safeguarded

Now that I'm 'of a certain age' one of the things I do to take care of myself is schedule a yearly appointment at the dermatologist to have my skin checked. Today was my visit for 2020.

The office is in a professional building next to a hospital. I was there several weeks ago to see my primary care doctor, so I knew the building took patient safety seriously. The protocol started when the office called to verify my appointment. The assistant asked if I (or anyone in my house) had any of a long list of physical symptoms, if anyone in the house had traveled within the past 21 days, if I had any reason to believe I had been exposed to COVID-19, or if I had been in close proximity to anyone who had tested positive. I answered NO to all the questions, and she told me I was required to wear a mask covering both my mouth and nose the entire time I was in the building. I agreed.

When I entered the building lobby the first thing I saw was an associate standing at a card table. He scanned my forehead with a thermometer, asked me the screening questions again, then handed me a sticker to wear while I was in the building.

The dermatology practice has five physicians, and normally the waiting room is packed. Today half the chairs were blocked off with tape, and there were also extra chairs placed six feet apart out in the hall. There were only two other patients waiting, and I was called back to a room within ten minutes.

The doctor entered wearing a mask, and did not offer his usual handshake. He thoroughly checked my body for skin issues (which included briefly removing my mask so he could see my face). He burned off three precancerous spots with liquid nitrogen, then told me to come back in one year and left. At the payment desk they had a sign next to a container of pens indicating they had been cleaned.