Why is a doctors handwriting so bad?
Many have tried answering this question. Some doctors claim that it is the time pressure coupled with other work stress that compel a doctor to write illegibly. Some even wonder whether doctors go to school to learn to write illegibly and the pharmacists go to school to learn to read what the doctors write! Some doctors, they argue that, have so little time and are under so much stress that they can’t possibly think how they write. But another study reveals that doctors don’t really improve even when told to write slowly and neatly with ample time even for test purpose. And the same study said that it was the letters of the alphabet that were affected more compared than the numbers. Probably it is on this combination of a drug name written illegibly (Tab. Aciloc) followed with a little better written dose (150 mg) that the pharmacist applies his sixth sense. But if a doctor happen to write both illegibly what could really happen, I wonder. What are the consequences? Available literatur
