Interpersonal Connection Between Doctors And Patients Summary

Dr. Chen spent a particular afternoon in a clinic with a man in his late fifties who was diagnosed with liver cancer. The patient’s daughter brought this man to clinic in hopes that the doctors would be capable of removing her father’s tumor. After examining the patient and reviewing the CAT scans, Dr. Chen realized that the tumor was inoperable and she had to tell the family the tragic news. “I had these kinds of conversations in the past and could only imagine how difficult it would be for this patient and his daughter. I wanted to be compassionate with them, to take the time to listen and to acknowledge their fears and concerns. But I also did not want to open the floodgates of emotion on an afternoon when the waiting room was overflowing” (Chen 1). In the end, Dr. Chen decided to briefly take the time out to deliver the news, but did not want to express any
emotion towards the patient and emotional daughter. A reason as to why Dr. Chen did not show as much empathy towards this family as expected was due to her uncertainty about the diagnosis and further procedures for this patient. “In fact, the amount of uncertainty present in most medical care is probably underestimated and underappreciated. “The best health care providers recognize they are dealing with possibilities and probabilities and learn to accept uncertainty — certain fields of medicine have more uncertainty than others” (“What your Doctor Doesn’t Know” 1). Doctors are learning to accept uncertainty when treating patients and it is affecting the expressions and empathy shown to the patients. In essence, interpersonal connection between doctors and patients does not exist as much anymore in today’s society.
The lack of interpersonal connection between doctors and patients is seen through the insufficient amount of time spent for appointments, the urge for doctors to see as many patients as possible on a daily basis, and lack of sympathy and consideration from doctors. Doctors now have flexible schedules which creates opportunities to see as many patients as possible throughout the day. The increase in money rates and income influences the doctors to prescribe medications which are sometimes unnecessary due to the patient not having as severe of an illness as determined by the doctor. Patients are beginning to describe doctors as “emotionless” due to not expressing the appropriate emotions at the appropriate situations. Is it really reasonable for doctors to diagnose patients after spending a short amount of time with them? If a doctor can listen to a patient for less than five minutes and be able to diagnose and prescribe medications immediately, can an individual who is not a doctor do the
same?