All doctors will spend as much of their time communicating with their
patients as they do actively diagnosing and treating their ailments.
Dr. Byron Brown notes that proper communication is essential if you are
going to gain the trust of your patient and ensure that you can provide
an adequate level of care, so consider all of these pointers when
talking to a patient.
Keep Things Simple
It is crucial that you remember that your patient will usually not have undergone the level of medical training that you have, so you must avoid using technical terms as much as possible. If you do use a technical term, make sure that you explain it in a manner that the patient understands without them feeling as though you are insulting their intelligence.
Prompt Questions
You should do everything that you can to encourage your patient to ask questions so that they can develop a better understanding of their condition. One of the best ways to do this is to ask the patient an open question that requires more than a yes or no answer and thus offers them the opportunity to ask a question of their own.
Talk About Other Subjects
Your patient will often be a little intimidated by the situation they are in, especially if they are visiting their doctor for a treatment to a condition they haven’t suffered from before. Dr. Byron A Brown notes that by talking about other subjects you allow them to control the conversation, thus building a bond with the patient and making them more comfortable when talking about medical matters.
Keep Things Simple
It is crucial that you remember that your patient will usually not have undergone the level of medical training that you have, so you must avoid using technical terms as much as possible. If you do use a technical term, make sure that you explain it in a manner that the patient understands without them feeling as though you are insulting their intelligence.
Prompt Questions
You should do everything that you can to encourage your patient to ask questions so that they can develop a better understanding of their condition. One of the best ways to do this is to ask the patient an open question that requires more than a yes or no answer and thus offers them the opportunity to ask a question of their own.
Talk About Other Subjects
Your patient will often be a little intimidated by the situation they are in, especially if they are visiting their doctor for a treatment to a condition they haven’t suffered from before. Dr. Byron A Brown notes that by talking about other subjects you allow them to control the conversation, thus building a bond with the patient and making them more comfortable when talking about medical matters.
