Your patient has judged you 7 seconds after meeting you

A doctor is working down their long list of patients, powering through the day, striving to use their skills to get them better. Some of the patients will be follow-ups who they already know; others will be brand new patients, who they are meeting for the first time. Of course, the job of any doctor is first and foremost to heal their patient in whatever way they can. That’s what all the medical school and residency training was all about: to get them to a position where they can safely and competently do this. But the crucial aspect of health care which is notoriously under-taught, is how to communicate with your patients. That’s most of what any doctor does, and a fundamental universal truth in health care, as I’ve written about previously. We are slowly getting better at this, and it’s being taught more in medical schools, but we still simply don’t think about this anywhere near enough. After physicians graduate and are thrown out onto the medical floors, they quickly realize that it’s the bulk of what practicing medicine is all about. That’s why we need to foster the skills necessary to maximize ones’ communication potential (remember, it’s not only important for success with your patients, but also for success on the career ladder and everything else you do in life). The ability to communicate well is everything. On that note, what could be more important than making a great first impression whenever a doctor meets a patient for the first time? As doc...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Physician Hospital-Based Medicine Primary Care Source Type: blogs