What doctors are supposed to write

I had a patient* some time ago who, when I asked him how he was feeling, responded, “Pretty fucking awful.” He saw a copy of the note and was upset, not because he was ashamed of his language, but because he was taken aback that a doctor would use such language in a note. I explained to him that I always try to record what a patient says to me, since that conveys useful information. He was mollified.

*details changed to de-identify