Why I fired my PCP and still don't use one

I needed a refill of my prescription at the pharmacy. The pharmacy told me my prescription ran out. Normally the pharmacy contacts the Dr's office and asked for a refill script- bing bang boom- done. THIS time, the Dr's office denied to refill and said I needed to come in for an evaluation first. Well, I was in graduate school in Florida, my Doctor was in NJ. So annoyingly knowing how important it was to monitor my health by a qualified professional I drove from FL to NJ for a little week break. Got to my PCP office for my scheduled appointment. I was brought into the patient room by the lovely nurse. And I sat, I waited, and in comes the doctor.

Doctor asked what brings me in, I confusingly looked at him and said "a check up". He asked if anything was wrong, I said no. He looked confused at me and said ok. To fill the quiet void in the room I spoke up saying I called to refill my prescription at the pharmacy, the pharmacy told me the Dr office denied the request to refill, and I needed to come in for an evaluation and new script. So I drove from Florida and here I am.

Now the doctor in front of me, who was my PCP, and the man who wrote my prescription scripts, looked me dead in the eye as he was holding my chart in front of his face and said, "and what medications are you taking?" I replied," Uhh insulin and test strips". His astonished look quickly changed and said, "oh you're diabetic!?"

The man tried to save his ass by saying the nurse didn't know I was away at school and I didn't have to drive all this way (which is something I clearly stated on the phone when I called from Florida however the nurse insisted it has been over a year and I needed to come in). He finished with saying he will have the scripts ready for me at the front desk and walked out.

So now here I am, a 24 year old Type 1 Diabetic in his third year with the disease, sitting in this man's office, pissed off, confused, and annoyed. My doctor had no idea I was even diabetic although he was the name on my scripts and the person who physically wrote my scripts in front of my eyes the year before. AFTER finding out I was Type 1 diabetic and it was over a year since my last check up, he did not order bloodwork, did not order a urine test, did not even check my height or weight, assess my circulation or even ask about my eyes.

The entire office visit with the doctor took about 4 minutes. From that day I have never stepped foot into a primary care physician's office. I have an endocrinologist and that is it. I write my own bloodwork scripts, I read and evaluate my own results, and I tell my endo what is going on just to keep the health insurance company happy and paying my pharmacy orders. I became interested in the healthcare field partly because of how many poor-quality physicians are out there but mostly because I truly cared about my own health and knew I could do a better job than my 'doctor'. In the process, I became one.

Its called "Healthcare" but not many actually care.

Message to you all: Choose your doctor's wisely.