Curbside consultation

curbside consultation

Sidewalk consultation An informal and unofficial consultation obtained from a health professsional by either a layperson or a fellow health care professional

Curbside consultation  

Layperson A layperson may 'corner' any physician, seeking an opinion about a medical condition, diagnostic modality, or therapeutic option; this form of consultation is particularly dangerous to the physician offering the opinion, as 1. the physician being cornered may not have expertise in the area–eg, a plastic surgeon being questioned about minutiae related to the complications of chemotherapy 2. The person may be asking for information about another person–eg, Aunt Gertrude with gallstones, in which case the information being exchanged with the consultant is confusing–for both the consultant and the surrogate consultee and/or becomes complete gibberish by the time that Aunt Gertrude recieves the 2^nd-hand consultation, and 3. The consultant may be liable for a lawsuit for misinformation that a damaged party may allege was provided

Physician A physician may ask a colleague in another specialty for the best method for managing a particular clinical problem NEJM 1995; 332:474c