Giving gifts to doctors?

[mariannas]

First of all...I'm not sure where to put this so mods feel free to move if there is a better spot for it!

Ok...so I would like to give two of my doctors a little something for the holidays.  I decided that I am going to make a giant batch of fancy cinnamon rolls and distribute them as gifts this year.  I was thinking that for the doctors I would give them two containers - one to share at the office and one to take home to their families.  My question is...is this appropriate?  Normally I wouldn't do this, but these two doctors are fantastic.  I wouldn't mark it as a Christmas gift, but as a Holiday gift and really...they will be more of a thank you than a Christmas present.

Thoughts?  Opinions?

[Romona]

 
I think that is a nice way to express how much the care they give to you means.

[paris]

Everyone loves gifts and I am sure they would appreciate it.  I bring bigs trays of goodies at Christmas for the whole staff.  Your cinnamon rolls sound like a great idea.

[thegrammalady]

go for it (you're making me hungry)

[goofynina]

I have several friends that work for Doctors and in offices and when a patient or client gives a Dr. a gift, he usually lets his/her employees enjoy it

[George Jung]

I had a girlfriend years ago that wrote a thank you card to a doctor that I had who had taken particularly good care of me  (Dr. Hayward I think his name was).  He was genuinely grateful for the thought.  If I went for a follow-up and she wasn't with me he would ask about her.

[mariannas]

Thanks for all of the advice everyone! 

Hehehe...I'm really excited about these cinnamon rolls.  I got the recipe from one of the foodie blogs I read, but it makes an absolutely gigantic batch of rolls.  I'm going to give a couple of pans to my old work and a couple of pans to each doctor and that should take care of pretty much all of them...that is if I don't end up eating them all myself first! 

[glitter]

My husbands GP went the extra mile so many times in 2006- at one point my husband was in the hospital for the tenth time- he didn't know what the problem was- everyones fustrations were running high- I asked him 'Don't you have some machine you can stick him in to find out the problem?' he laughed and said "Mrs. Adams, I don't have a tricorder!!' I laughed too, it eased the tension at the time.... A couple of months later, my husband was better- and christmas rolled around, I bought a tricorder off ebay and gave it to him, with a card that said my husbands Dr. needed the best equipment!  he said it was the best present ever!!

[jbeany]

I gave my training nurse one of my sculptures holding a thank you card.  She was really pleased - she said it meant a lot to her.  I don't think they get a lot of gratitude for what they do, and some of them really do work hard.  Cinnamon rolls sound like a great thank you - add a note as well!

[stauffenberg]

The only gift I can think of that would be appropriate for the typical nephrologist is an exploding cigar or a music box with a ticking time bomb in it.  If dialysis patients took over the world, almost every nephrologist would be strung up by his heels from the nearest lamp post.  In Canada, it used to be the practice that the nephrologists were paid $60 by the taxpayers for every dialysis patient they saw and talked to while making their rounds through the dialysis center.  I once offered to the manager of my unit to do the same thing for only $10 per patient, since I could just as easily say, "Renal disease is incurable; I can't do anything for you!" as the nephrologists did.

[Zach]

The only gift I can think of that would be appropriate for the typical nephrologist is an exploding cigar or a music box with a ticking time bomb in it. 

Let it out, man. Tell us how you really feel.
 

[livecam]

Lets see here..ya already bought him a Mercedes, a Beemer, a Vette, a big house, a vacation home, and a few girlfriends.  What else ya gonna give him?

[paddbear0000]

Lets see here..ya already bought him a Mercedes, a Beemer, a Vette, a big house, a vacation home, and a few girlfriends.  What else ya gonna give him?

I don't know about your doctor, but mine drives a Honda Civic! I'd seen him several times driving it, so I asked him about it.

[mariannas]

Lets see here..ya already bought him a Mercedes, a Beemer, a Vette, a big house, a vacation home, and a few girlfriends.  What else ya gonna give him?

Well...I didn't give him those things, but my insurance sure did.   

I guess I might be in the minority that I have two very wonderful doctors who listen to me and genuinely wish me well.  I don't get to thank them very often so I thought this would be a nice opportunity.

[angellady07]

Your cinnamon rolls sound yummy........  I'm glad you have caring doctors.

[paddbear0000]

My mother is an office manager for a doctor and says that food is always the best gift fo doctors. They are so busy and appreciate just getting something to eat. I think your cinnamon rolls are a great idea. I'm now craving a Cinnabon!!

[MattyBoy100]

Although all my docs are great, I don't really have much contact with them - they only tend to see me on a quaterly review or if I am very ill which is rare.  I bring gifts to the nursing staff though as they are the ones that deal with me on a daily basis.  I bring them a tin of choc every month and at Xmas time, I donate something for their Xmas raffle - usually a bottle of wine and some fancy chocolates.  I also give them some money which goes towards the kitty for their Xmas party.

They are all very good to me and I like to show some appreciation in my own small way.  Not many patients in my unit do any of those things and most of them are grumpy, miserable and treat the nurses like their slaves.

[Rerun]

HELL NO!  I give them enough business to buy their lake house.  Isn't that enough?  How many times have they screwed up?  Do they give me a gift?  Nope just another bill! 

On the other hand when I was new to this I did feel that way.  "ohh they have done so much for me blah, blah, blah".  I learned quick that they aren't in this business because they care.  It is an easy job and someone has got to do it.

I guess I'm must bitter.

[Amanda From OZ]

While i was on dialysis i had given my neph a lot of gifts such as sweets and wines... he was great to me, and i am grateful for that. 

[Romona]

  
I volunteer to "taste test" the Cinnamon Rolls!

[glitter]

If you have a great Doctor why not? and after reading all the responses so far, when you get a good one- defined as treating you like a real person, being kind and having compassion, why not show your appreciation? I know they make alot of money- but the cranky mean doctors do too. We have had so many impersonal Doctors, when one slows down enough to make a personal connection its pretty nice, most of them don't bother.

[paddbear0000]

I had a great doctor back in Maryland. She definitely was not in it for the money. The whole time I was uninsured and/or unemployed, she would see me for free. That included bloodwork and everything. And I was going every couple of weeks. She was the best doctor ever and I miss her!

[Aldente]

Our clinic has a no gift policy which is published in the newsletter every holiday season.

[goofynina]

Our clinic has a no gift policy which is published in the newsletter every holiday season.

Bah!  Is that for the docs or the techs, nurses and secretaries too?  That is kinda sad but i think it would be best in the long run that way no one would feel obligated to give a gift, especially if they cant afford it.   

[KR Cincy]

I have an awesome neph...I see him once a month for an extended appointment. We go over labs, adequacies, talk about any reactions or problems or concerns. I'm his first home hemo patient, so he admitted he's learning about it all as we go, but he's open to anything that will get me to the five year mark and a transpant. He's even willing to let us test a 3 day on/1 day off schedule...as long as my numbers stay good...if they drop, he told me straight up that I'll be back to 6 on/1 off, but I'm ok with that.

So yeah, I'm guessing my wife will whip up some goodies for him and his nurses for taking such good care of me.