LOOK: This Physician Proves Doctors Can Write Legibly, Too

(SPOT.ph) Medical doctors are notoriously known to have sloppy, illegible handwriting, so it was a welcome surprise for Twitter users to see this Gen Z physician's now-trending post for how he wrote his prescription: from its penmanship to its easy-to-comprehend content.

Newly-licensed general physician Robert Dominic Gonzales, or fondly called Doc Rob by his followers, snapped a photo of his prescription to a patient and tweeted it on Tuesday, March 21 to celebrate his journey of becoming a practicing medical doctor. What caught Twitter users' attention, though, was his neat handwriting and his clear instructions written in Filipino. It has been "liked" more than 32,500 times since it was posted.

"I think it would be better if we practice this more often, since the purpose of having a prescription is for us to prescribe medicines, have the pharmacist interpret this, and for the patients to follow instructions regarding their medication intake," the 25-year-old medical doctor told SPOT.ph.

"Mas mabuti kung maiintindihan ito ng lahat para iwas tayo sa mga tinatawag nating 'medication errors' na dulot ng hindi maayos na pagkakaintindi sa mga nakasulat sa prescription."

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Gen Z physician trends for doctor's prescription, handwriting

Twitter users praised his readable handwriting as compared to other doctors' penmanship—often described as "kalkal manok" or likened to chicken scratches—which could be because they write prescriptions in haste, or maybe their hands are tired, said Gonzales.

In his case, "this is my usual handwriting, ever since. I think it’s also a matter of practice and repetition. 'Yung tipong nakasanayan ko na rin."

Another reason why it's difficult to read medical prescriptions is because of scientific jargon, said Gonzales, who is also a professor at the University of Sto. Tomas. He started writing his prescription in Filipino to accommodate his patients in a community medical mission who do not understand English.

"It is a fact that not everyone has the same wavelength or knowledge to understand scientific or medical terms and jargon because of the differences in our fields of study and academic status. However, what we can do as professionals is to at least make a way for us to 'reach out' and make things understandable for our patient."

Gonzales found the Internet's response heartwarming, "but, it’ll be more heartwarming if a lot of doctors will prescribe with a legible handwriting and a more patient-friendly/centered 'signa' or instructions."

"It would really be best if we could work on this to lessen medication errors. I want to serve as a part of those who break the notion na kapag sinabing 'sulat doktor' pangit na kaagad."