A little (possible) explanation:
The doctor-patient relationships can often be short-lived here. For one thing, as employee you usually have no say-so about what insurance you might have. Employers tend to renew contracts on an annual basis, always on the lookout for the least expensive deal. Consequently, the employee might be changing insurance companies on an annual or maybe biannual basis. This frequently brings about having to change doctors because not every insurance company accepts every doctor and vice-versa. Basically that means the doctor-patient relationship can be very impersonal.
There was a time when I changed doctors about once a year, sometimes even more frequently. I remember I had to switch doctors because my employer had switched insurance companies. Some six months into switching doctors, my doctor at the time committed suicide, so I had to switch again. About 9 months after switching, the new doctor decided to retire. Again I had to switch. I got lucky and found a doctor close-by in my neighborhood. She was young and very personable, s I thought this might be my doctor for quite a while, but a year or so into our relationship she decided she wanted to do research instead, so she quit. I am now on my fifth doctor in about 7 or 8 years. I like the one I currently have, but he’s way past retirement age, so who knows how long he’ll stick around. Fortunately, I only need to go once a year for my annual check-up. If I had some sort of ailment that required frequent visits, I would probably go nuts trying to remember which doctor I’m with. All that, however, sort of explains the generic greeting, I think. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has these relationship problems.
