The Socialization of Caregivers

Socialization is a very important chapter in patient-caregiver relationship. Physicians tend to concentrate more on patient’s medical necessity rather than on patient’s emotions, feeling and thoughts. Physicians do not always get very social with their patient. Physicians prefer to be straight to the point and leave almost no time for socialization. However, patients find socialization very important while being treated, they feel more relaxed and confident when they have the ability to share and communicate with a caregiver. “Largely as a result of medical school reform in the early 1900s (covered in Chapter 2), science is the core of most caregiver education programs today. Except for nursing programs, very little attention is given to communication and relationship building (Bryan, 1991)”. Nursing schools are more patient-oriented than medical schools. Nursing students tend to me more involved in patient’s life, as well as to be more socially active and push patients towards resuming an independent living. Medical students are not as socially active; therefore they miss much of important information about patient’s medical condition. Medical students concentrate more on a theory and science, while nurses fluently socialize with patients. Medical student are put to test, they experience a large amount of pressure and learn to control emotions. “Most medical schools now require some training in psychological and social aspects of illness (Laine & Davidoff, 1996), and some schools are expanding their curricula to include communication skills training, management and business, end-of-life care, and ethics”. Medical student are now required to go through a course of doctor-patient relationships to help the physician and the patient to fluently socialize and develop own communication skills. A medical reform has also decreased the amount of hours interns should work a week, so that interns are able to closely monitor patient’s health problem and improvement.