Have you ever got annoyed -as a patient- by a member of a medical team? And have you ever thought -as a doctor- about your patient’s feelings? What should we do to make our patients completely satisfied with the care they receive? Do you ever care about that? And what about our feelings? Aren’t we humanbeings? Don’t we have the right to be treated appropriately and respectfully? I think the key of the answer to these questions is summerized in one word .. psycholgy. So, should we all with our different specialities study psychology? Of course not! But, why don’t we learn about probing into our patients personalities to know the best way to deal with them? And what about communication skills courses? This will make things so much easier for both the doctor and the patient. Even if the patient is rude or aggressive, maybe annoying, we should know that he is the weak one. He needs attention, he needs care, he needs to be heard and understood. So let’s think about how we can do that. 1. First of all, give your patients your time. Or make him feels like you are doing that. This will make him relaxed so you will be able to get the important information more quickly and efficiently. 2. Pay your attention to them even if you are waiting for certain keywords. 3. Listen to them more often, maybe they will lead you to the key of their case. 4. Communication skills courses, communication skills courses, COMMUNICATION SKILLS COURSES! They are very useful actually. When you learn how to probe into your patients personality, you will know the best way to get the information you need from him, and, you will know the best way to deliver what you want to tell efficiently. In other word, you will save BOTH your time and effort. At last, we may face really difficult patients but the are already vulnerable by their disease. Let’s deal with them as if they are family members. Let’s deal with them the way we would love to be treated with if we were patients. This is our message. This is our way in humanity.
