Why do doctors have such poor handwriting?
by 
xjimmyloudx
ANSWERS: 10
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Medical school often makes you work late, not sleep or eat properly and that can make you habitually impatient with small details over time sacrificing them for the greater good and over all bigger picture.
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I think they want to show that they are very, very busy people and can't afford the time to write nicely. Just my opinion.+4
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To make nurses jobs harder.:)
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to make themselves special..they are so busy at all times
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I don't know if this is an urban myth or not, so don't quote me on this, but I heard that Doctors once had to take classes to encourage bad handwriting so that prescription signatures could not easily be forged.
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Lectures and the need to take lots of notes very very fast. This tend to make doctors develop their very own unreadable version of stenography. regards JakobA
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I can't comment for anyone else, but my handwriting (which was never great to begin with) became pretty much illegible after residency. I once tried to figure out how many times I had to sign my name during a typical day, and lost track after several hundred. Now I have a signature that uses as few hand motions as I can get away with. The same was true for writing notes in a chart. Fortunately, now I can dictate my notes and electronically write prescriptions. :-)
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* They have to work at speed so they rush menial tasks. * Many have secreteries type things up for them. * There is often no connection between being good at science and writing neatly.
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I noticed that the more years I spent in college, taking notes, the worse my handwriting got. Doctors spend more time in college taking notes than almost any other profession. I think that probably correlates. I also noticed that the more years I taught and signed passes hurriedly, the worse my signature got. Doctors sign prescriptions hurriedly all day long. I think that probably correlates too.
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having poor handwriting is ONE of the prerequisites of getting into medical school!
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