Listen to the patient… As you know, I make no secret of my opinions about today's medical training. For starters, too many med school grads are brainwashed into being nothing more than drug reps. Whatever happened to teaching young doctors to be savvy clinicians and diagnosticians? Why aren't we teaching them to think outside the pillbox, to seek creative, alternative solutions?
And then there's the doctor's "bedside manner." The phrase refers to a doctor's way of dealing with patients -- making them feel at ease, prepared, and fully aware of the medical realities they face. It's a vital part of medicine, one that all doctors should be required to develop skills in. But apparently it's not a big part of modern medical curricula -- or a priority among most doctors nowadays, young or old. I mention this because in the last few years, I've sensed that the gap between doctors and their patients has widened considerably. It's almost as though mainstream doctors everywhere believe that medicine itself has become larger than the people they're seeking to treat. That's just plain wrong, in my opinion. And a recent study quantified this perception… In a study of nearly 1000 breast cancer patients, NEARLY HALF of them indicated that their doctor's explanation of the condition, its diagnosis, and treatment options was insufficient, incomplete, or difficult to understand. And almost 60% of these patients wanted to speak to medical staff more, according to research published in the Annals of Oncology. See what I mean about lacking bedside manner? In my opinion, medicine -- be it mainstream, alternative, or experimental -- should revolve around the patient. ALL doctors (regardless of discipline) should remember first and foremost that they're treating A PERSON, not just a disease or condition. And that person needs to understand what's happening to them, and what's going to happen to them once treatment begins… Sometimes that takes having a little patience and paying attention to the patient. That doesn't mean being all "touchy-feely" and offering up "compassion" in place of a "cure," as I explained in the August 2002 issue of Real Health. It just means REALLY LISTENING to what the patient says -- and looking for physical disease first, when a patient says, "I'm sick. Valuing what's important -- and knowing what's not,
William Campbell Douglass II, MD
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