I think some of this is that our parents and grandparents lived in a different time, when a lot of physicians had private practices and some even gave out their cell numbers. They’ve become accustomed to having that level of access, and cell phones and portal messaging makes that even easier.
I had my pediatrician’s cell number, but I never took advantage of that. I think I texted her like, twice.
And one of those times was legit “hi Dr. Hippie, this is MaddyLatte. I just left ‘university clinic’ and the MD said strep isn’t contagious. What do I do now?” 🤣