Are patients stupid ?

Sometimes doctors get very upset by how poorly informed their patients are . They find it very frustrating when patients know so little about their medical problems ; and they feel that the time they have to spend on explaining the basics of human anatomy and physiology to their patients could be better used making the right diagnosis or doing treatment procedures. They believe that every patient should have enough background knowledge about their own body – and cannot understand why patients are not willing to take the time and trouble to learn more about their most precious possession – their own body. The general perception amongst doctors is that patients are stupid and are not capable of understanding the basics; or that they are lazy and are not interested in finding out more. I think both of these are flawed perceptions. The truth is that patients do want to know more about their illness and its treatment, but some of these topics and concepts can be fairly complicated , and it takes time for them to understand what's happening. The right approach should be that it's not patients who are stupid or lazy but it's much more likely that it's doctors who are lazy , because they will not take the time and trouble to explain to patients in simple terms which they can understand. After all communication is always a two-way street and if the patient cannot understand what the doctor is saying, this means the doctor is not doing a good job in explaining to the patient. This ...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: doctor patient communication stupid patients caring doctors Source Type: blogs