For the longest time, medical schools were known for teaching their student doctors everything about medicine and nothing about how to manage their income after graduation. Many institutions have remedied this flaw by adding classes, having guest speakers, adding advisors for student counseling… and so on.
However, I find it interesting that at no point in our education are we taught the art of conversation and understanding cues and body language. I don’t mean to sound like grandpa on his rocker, but conversation is a lost art in medicine. Many of my patients have expressed relief and almost excitement at the fact that I’m willing to shoot the breeze for a minute before I even ask why they walked into the office. If we have a patient that gets upset, the front desk jokes about how quickly I calm them down. Our MA Sara once said, “siempre tiene en la bolsa”. When asked how I do it, I tell them, “I listen to their concern without interruption and offer a sincere apology. That’s it.”
The the ability to make a total stranger feel comfortable with telling you what’s wrong with them is not easy. For most, it takes a lot of practice. Take a genuine interest in the person, remind yourself not to interrupt them in the first minute of taking a history… and so on.
I stress this because it does so much to help both parties. When the patient is comfortable and relaxed, they’re likely to be more honest about their story and HPI (history of present illness) and surprisingly, more accurate about it as well!
There are many other reasons to focus on communication with your patients (higher patient compliance, lower rates of litigation…) but in an effort to make this a “short read”, the final point is, nothing makes someone feel better than when they are listened to and acknowledged. Talk to your patients, LOOK at your patients. Conversation should be fun, playful and interactive, not scripted and one-sided.
Try it out, who knows?… Salud
