About Doctor's Handwriting

Yes me too i dont understand what doctor write in the prescription.Maybe doctor writing so fast coz they want they job finish hurry.and many patient waiting for them.So till this time i cant understand what doctor write. Maybe need special school to write like a doctor lol kidding.Have good day for you.

Hi cearn25! Sometimes I am wondering about it too.. lol.. Hmmm.. I think the reason why only the pharmacists are the people who can understand the doctors handwriting is because they studied that too in their curriculum!!..haha.. I know that must be a sily guess, hahaha.. but it's the only thing that I can think of right now. The reason why I came with such idea is because there other courses like in AB Communication wherein they are studying another type of writing wherein they use steno notes, not quite sure what that writing is being called, mayeb "stenography".. haha.. So, I think this is one such type, that's why pharmacists could understand the doctor's handwriting. And maybe they won't write it legibly so that they are sure that the patient won't change the prescription thay they gave. Just being cautious. Just a guess though.. lol. ;) :)

Some doctors write neat.My dad is also a doctor & I can't understand some things he writes.I really don't get it why most doctors write so messily.

Yes, most doctors jot down their medical prescriptions in an illegible writing mode. Though we find it hard to identify the name of medicine written down , it is all a wonder that the pharmacists easily understand the name of product.This in fact should be due to their getting used to viewing prescriptions of the sort in a routine manner.

I dont know if pharmacist can read it either. I do know that the doctors also call the perscriptions into where you will be going. Many times the pharmacist will call the doctors too.

hello cearn I agree with you... I too don't know how these pharmacists understand what some doctors write as some of it are very difficult to understand.As you said it will be much more convincing if the doctors write it a bit clearly.I heard of rare cases in which the pharmacists give wrong medicine to people because they sometimes did not get what the prescription said.

Well, a lot of times now around here they either Fax everything in, or the prescription they give you is just Computer generated and then they sign it. There is usually never handwritten ones anymore. But it is quite interesting how anyone most of the time can read it, and I have been questioned by Pharmacies, and have heard of prescriptions also being filled wrong. In reality it would be nice for Doctors to have a little more clearer writing for sure.

Nope, not for me either!! haha When i thought my handwriting are tidy, readable, but none of my friends are able to understand. When i look at the doctor's handwriting, it's so messy, so curvy and yet nurse are able to read! haha I'm amazed by that! What's more, every doctors seemed to have the same handwriting, no matter which clinic or hospital one goes to,their handwriting tend to have the same style.. haha

That is just why you should carefully check your prescription after you receive it to make sure that it is the correct medication. The military has the problem of illegible written prescriptions solved. The doctor simply types the prescription into the computer, which is connected to the pharmacy. The patient only has to show the proper ID at the pharmacy, and the prescription is filed. Some day, maybe, all doctors and pharmacies will be connected via computer.

Prescriptions are specifically written in code. It's not words. They do this on purpose so people can't forge prescriptions. This code is a jumble of letters. It's not meant to be read like English. Only the pharmacists can decode the thing.

No,not at all.Even farmacists do the mistakes while reading the prescription and i am the victim of it. Once a farmacist handed over the medicine for my mother, relating to stomach problem,but actually the medicine was for lever related problem. thank god i could make out by applying common sense because the bottle was bearing a lever photograph .When i asked the farmacist,he just made a sorry face and replaced the medicine.when i seriously thought about the small looking incident but a blunder from the docter because his writing was readable at all and even spellings were not correct. People think,such writings are the signs of great academic but it is wrong.Such doctors write in such state , just to hide writing ineffeciency.I have seen many good doctors writing very beautiful hand writing.

Greek doctors do it too. It's crazy.

I find it is very difficult to read what the doctor prescribes but a medicinal store keeper can understand what is written it. A doctor has a large number of patients on each day. So if has to hurry to check all of them. So it is very common to find that the doctors using the bad hand writing.

Prescriptions are some of the only times that doctor's write neatly! When it comes to organising scans or ordering tests their handwriting gets even worse!

Hi cearn, Is the profession can do anything with their handwriting? I am confused now but I must admit major percentages of doctors are writing prescription not in a clear format. However, my son’s Pediatrician is writing very clearly in the prescription. Anybody can easily read the names of medicines. This experience made me think is the profession forcing them to write in that way, I felt it is depends on the person’s handwriting, if a person used to write in a clear format he/she may continue that habit in his lifetime irrespective of his/her profession.

As a nurse, we also understand what the doctor is writing but sometimes there are words that are so hard to understand that we need to ask for help with our senior nurse or yet that doctor who wrote it just to be sure especially in the chart. Maybe the reason why they have that kind of penmanship is because they had a lot of notes to be written when they were still studying, so as time goes by they still have that kind of style of writing. But nowadays, I can find a lot of young doctors who can write neatly.

i also do not see why they write so fast...but most probably they got used to this,..maybe during med school they have to take notes fast while in their classes? that must be one of the reasons

I can't understand what doctors write either. I have always wondered how pharmacists can read it. I wouldn't know if it was right or not, because I can never make out what it was supposed to be. Sometimes I can read the numbers, the dosage and things but not the rest. Maybe pharmacists and doctors have a secret code that us normal people don't know.

Well the phrase "you should have been a doctor with this handwriting" really is not something that was said a lot of reason. Doctors, I think for the most part have rather invented their own script, their own way of writing. It is kind of frustrating to attempt to to decipher some of it to say the very least. There are just really going to be quite the adventure and quite of the exercise to say the very least. Then again, some might say the same of my handwriting, the rare times I decide to handwrite and I'm not a doctor. Of course, it does depend on the doctor and the person trying to piece together the work. There are going to be times where the work is going to be much easier to really piece together, but doctors have to write out a lot of things rather quickly. I do feel sorry for the people who have to fill prescriptions, who have to decipher the handwriting of many, many doctors all around. Some of them its easier to live. Others, I'm sure an entire group of people would figure out a way to read the handwriting.

Doctor's Handwriting is really a puzzle to me too. I am a student nurse and I encounter these sort of alien handwriting a LOT. Some I can comprehend while some I just don't have any idea. I think there are five possible reasons for this infamous handwriting. 1.They are very busy as they have a lot of patients to attend to and the haste shows in the handwriting. 2.In the advent of technology and typing, writing skills just deteriorated? 3. They are tired of writing same antibiotic or whatever medication over and over again. 4. They are bored? 5. Naturally inborn bad handwriting.