There are a number of things you think about when going to see a doctor.

I had only one thing in mind when I went to the MedExpress on Pierce Road: being anywhere but here.

I am a busy person, but I know you should always set aside at least one hour even on the slowest day and with the most expert doctors.

This is what I thought MedExpress was: an actual clinic.

I thought physicians and their staff were supposed to help patients. I never thought I would be turned away for service. I guessed they didn’t want my money, but when they said they couldn’t help me, I was concerned on what they actually did there.

The following are my observations:

First, although I know you have to wait forever to actually see a doctor, I am always surprised by the wait time. I was the only patient in the lobby, although they may have just admitted someone before I arrived.

During my visit, I waited for nearly 15 minutes before being honored with the visit of hospital staff, I couldn’t even see the doctor, not yet anyway. You have to jump through so many hoops to be treated by a doctor.

Still, I shouldn’t jump to my conversation with the MedExpress staff just yet.

When I first entered the building, I had to sign a white tab that asked me whether I need to be treated generally or if I had something for the laboratory, like X-rays.

I was there because I had fallen at my place of employment and needed a follow-up. My wrist was sprained, swollen and possibly fractured. I went to the MedExpress to have my X-rays looked at and have a quick check-up.

When asking a staff member behind the glass which one of the services I should mark, she said I can only do one service per visit.

Ah, customer service. They never really listen to what you’re saying. If the MedExpress was a restaurant, they would have ditsy waitresses and I wouldn’t tip them.

Second, once I finally got in to talk to the staff, not the doctor, I had to wait again. This time, one of the front desk staff members said they had to wait for the computer to start up. I had watched her since I got there while I waited to be called in and she had not left the computer. I still wonder what I had been waiting for. Her computer was already on, I saw it from behind the glass when I registered with them.

I think they play World of Warcraft on the computer or online crossword games. They have to being doing something interesting, because at least one person is always on the computer.

Third, there were four people working in the front when I was admitted, and two were just taking a load off. I want to be a front desk worker. You can just sit around.

Well, once they were finally ready for me, I told them about my situation. They looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language, like elvish or some alien tongue, because they gave me some weird looks, took a look at my CD, which only said my name, and shook their heads.

I am talking about the two that were mostly paying attention, the two that were supposed to be helping me.  I asked if someone could look at my X-rays and if I could have a follow-up.

They said they don’t do that there. Surprising, I know. They took a look at my papers from the emergency room I first went to, and said I had to see an orthopedic doctor. A bone doctor had to give me a check-up.

Apparently, even though the MedExpress is an emergency care facility, they didn’t have anyone there who could look at my arm.

I wonder what would happen to a student, who lived on campus, if they fell down the stairs and hurt their leg. Would they transfer him? What if he was bleeding out? Would those desk staff women look at him like they looked me? Would they think, “Hmm, looks bad,” or would they be working to fix the problem and help them?

I don’t think they would.

My papers said an orthopedic doctor was recommended but not required for a check-up. I said this, but the staff did not believe me.

I didn’t know I had to convince someone that I was hurt and needed help to be helped.

I guessed that they didn’t want my money. I guessed that it didn’t matter that my wrist was hurt. I now believe I had to literally walk outside, fall on the ground, walk in and claim it was an emergency to get service.

Although they say the doctors are currently accepting new patients, I was not offered to be treated as a patient, but apparently a fly-by-night student without insurance. I have insurance.

And although the sign above the building and by the entrance says “X-Ray and Laboratory Services,” apparently students are not allowed these services.

I was really disappointed with how I was treated. MedExpress  is supposed to be there for students and community members who don’t have regular doctors in the area.

I am one of those students, and I was not accepted for treatment, because they did not think a sprained and fractured wrist was an emergency.