WRITER * ARTIST * DOCTOR * PATIENT * MOTHER
It seems that lately, doctors spend more of our time working to prove to patients that our counsel, informed by years of rigorous training, should be trusted more than their cousin’s Facebook post, a random Wikipedia page, or a stranger’s Instagram feed … It’s time to bring our communication out of our clinics, operating rooms,…
Medical school teaches us open-ended questions are best. We are told to avoid interrupting patients, allow them get their whole story out before we jump in—to prompt them only with nods or gentle “hmmm’s” and maybe a “tell me more.” But years of practice can erode this open style. Experience focuses our questioning to what…
“Too often, weary parents brave icy roads and sleep deprivation, their bodies still healing from Cesarean sections or vaginal tears, to make sure their newborn’s rash or sleep pattern or congestion is not serious. We try to shelter them in covered car seats and get them home quickly, hoping they haven’t caught any of the…
In the emergency department, patients often wonder why they aren’t seen fast enough, or why their problems aren’t completely solved, or why the tests they want cannot be run. Doctors and nurses in the ED also grumble and ask each other, “Why did the patient come here for that? Don’t they know this isn’t the…
Her face was not one meant for poker. Her pursed lips emitted “pfffs” and “hmmphs” and her eyes rolled as I spoke. Her hips shifted and squirmed in the vinyl chair while her son stacked otoscope tips in towers on the linoleum below. The emergency department can inure one to such displays of frustration. My…