Why do doctors have poor penmaship/handwriting?

Question

It's a simple question. Why is it that I can't read nor understand the presciptions doctors are giving me?

Answer 1

You're not supposed to understand it, it's Latin. Well, that plus some of their handwriting really looks like chicken scratch.

Answer 2

Some doctors may adopt odd penmanship to prevent their signatures from being forged.

Answer 3

It's a stereotype that ALL doctors have bad handwriting, most doctors I've had in the past had very good handwriting.. but it is definitely not a good thing to not understand the prescription..

Here's scientifically researched proof that doctors have no less legible handwriting than normal people (on average):

Results--The handwriting of doctors was no less legible than that of non-doctors. Significantly lower legibility than average was associated with being an executive and being male. Overall legibility scores were normally distributed, with median legibility equivalent to a rating between "fair" and "good."

Conclusion--This study fails to support the conventional wisdom that doctors' handwriting is worse than others'. Illegible writing is, however, an important cause of waste and hazard in medical care, but efforts to improve the safety and efficiency of written communication must approach the problem systemically--and assume that the problems are in inherent in average human writing--rather than treating doctors as if they were a special subpopulation.

Introduction

The assertion that doctors have bad handwriting holds an honoured place in traditional lore. According to conventional wisdom, doctors write in a code--a self righteous chicken scratch that is decipherable only by experienced pharmacists and, with luck, by each other. The question of doctors' handwriting, of course, has a serious side with far reaching implications concerning the quality and safety of health care. Some studies have found doctors' medical records and prescriptions illegible, wasteful, and dangerous, (1-7) but we found no evidence on whether poor handwriting is indeed more of a problem among doctors than among other adults. We gathered data on handwriting under controlled circumstances to determine if, among professionals in health care, being a doctor is associated with poorer handwriting.

Answer 4

One time the pharmacy couldn't even read it!

Answer 5

Doctors do have poor penmanship cause they write so many prescriptions and also that the patient wont read it,and also they do not know how to spell properly and disguise their mistakes with scribbling . I have seen doctors get the medicine book to copy the trade name of the medicine they prescribing .

Answer 6

its just their natural way of writing..My aunt always made fun of my cousin and be like he going be a doctor when he gets older we'll be like why she's like cause he has messy writing !!!..LOL!

Answer 7

wow you have a point..every doctor i've had sucks at writing. i can't even read it. my parents read it for me, lol

Answer 8

I know...one time the pharmacy gave me the wrong medicine and they said it was because they couldn't read the handwriting. =/

Answer 9

it is ridiculous. maybe it's *********, maybe they are just writing & signing too much. i'm very thankful that where i work all orders are done on the computer. no chance of us not being able to tell what they are ordering or saying.

man, i can't believe c0ckiness gets edited on here.

Answer 10

Its Latin, so you can't understand & forge the presciptions!

Answer 11

Some Dr's have poor handwritng like the rest of us. Some just do not want the patient to read the writing. It is for professionals to read. But if anyone wants to improve their handwriting check out the video

" Anyone Can Improve Their Handwriting" with amazon.com

There are samples  of the video on youtube.  

Answer 12

because they high off of prescription drugs and they're always shaky

Answer 13

Because they have too write and sign so much stuff that their hand writing is bad. My parents are both doctor and they have to sign so much stuff. I can't understand it either. :)

Answer 14

We cant but a medical labist can read..........

Because doctors dont know the exact spelling of the drugs which they are prescribing..... (They have remember so many tablets)...

So only the are writing in such a manner .....

But I saw a doctor who can write neatly and with out any spelling mistakes....