As a pediatric ophthalmologist, my job is to get as much ocular information as possible from kids ranging in age from birth to 18. What I’ve found, especially for the younger children around ages 4 to 10, is that they’ll cooperate more if you can make them laugh. When they get into the slit lamp, I always joke with them and tell them something like “Oh no, I see something in your eyes…Oh! It’s a chicken!” The kids know from my tone that I’m joking, and it makes them a lot less nervous about the exam.

It’s become a trademark of mine and gets a laugh from both the children and their parents. Some of the kids get in on it too, and on their return visits will tell me things like “I bet you won’t see a chicken this time — I bet you’ll see a cow!”

“IGNORE HIM!”

One time, at my Peoria office at the Illinois Eye Center, I was examining an 8-year-old boy who had infantile esotropia that had been operated on years previously. He was in for a six-month check-up, and I had been seeing him for several years at this point so he was familiar with my routine. He was usually accompanied by one of his parents to my clinic, but this time his grandmother was with him. As is the case for all adults with pediatric patients, grandma was sitting next to me in the exam room while I started examining the boy’s eyes. With his head in the slit lamp, I started to focus on his right eye, and, as the boy knew I would, I started my joke. “Oh no!” I exclaimed. “We’ve got a problem!”

At this, his grandmother became unglued. “What? What’s wrong?” she exclaimed. She stood up and started bouncing from one foot to the next, a nervous look on her face. At this, the boy turned his head away from the slit lamp and looked right at her. “Grandma, ignore him!” he shouted. At that, I couldn’t help but break out laughing.

REASSURING GRANDMA

Once I collected myself, I explained the situation to grandmother; after she realized what had happened she started laughing, too. To further put her mind at ease, I let her know that if I ever did find something serious, I would never use a jesting tone like that.

Still, the whole situation was one of the funniest experiences I’ve ever had as a doctor. It also didn’t stop me from joking with my pediatric patients, who are always more at ease once you show them you have a sense humor. OM

Steven J. Lichtenstein, MD, FAAP, FACS, FAAO, is an associate professor of clinical surgery and pediatrics at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria and Chicago, medical director of pediatric ophthalmology at the Children’s Hospital of Illinois and a pediatric ophthalmologist at the Illinois Eye Center in Peoria, Ill.