The Intelligent Patient's Guide to the Doctor-Patient Relationship: Learning How to Talk So Your Doctor Will Listen - Softcover

Korsch, Barbara M.; Harding, Caroline

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195126572 ISBN 13: 9780195126570

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1998

Synopsis

Do you feel that your doctor doesn't pay attention to what you say? Does your doctor cut you off when you try to explain how you feel? Do you think your doctor could remember your name without referring to your chart? Does your doctor seem to be in such a hurry that you don't even get a chance to ask your most important questions? Do you spend more time waiting than actually talking to your doctor? Do you understand what your doctor says? At one time or another, we have all had these complaints. This book will teach you how to ask the right questions, understand the answers, and show you how to take more control of your visits to the doctor and your own health.
This is the first book in which communication pioneer Barbara M. Korsch, M.D., reveals what she has learned about the doctor-patient relationship dilemma during almost half a century of investigation. In clear, simple language, Dr. Korsch answers most of our common questions: How do I know when I'm sick enough to go to the doctor? How do I know if it's serious enough to go to the emergency room? What do I do if I can't follow the advice my doctor gives me? She walks us through a typical visit to the doctor, showing us how to prepare ourselves so we don't forget the question that has been worrying us for weeks as soon as we walk through the doctor's door. She gives important tips on how to survive the dreaded hospital experience. And she offers insight into the doctor's side of the relationship, showing how doctors are trained to be task-oriented and how their natural human sympathy is discouraged throughout their careers. Finally, she offers patients useful strategies for humanizing the relationship.
Korsch's helpful, commonsense recommendations are extensively illustrated with real-life doctor-patient conversations which she recorded on audio and video tape over the course of the last thirty years. She was one of the first medical professionals to emphasize the importance of teaching doctors how to talk to patients as part of their medical training. She serves as consultant and lecturer to medical schools, hospitals, and medical practices throughout the world to help the next generation of doctors communicate with their patients. Above all, after years of research, she has found abundant evidence that the relationship patients form with their doctors directly determines the quality of the care they receive.
This is a vital book for anyone who is concerned about their health and who wants to take control of their medical care. So much depends upon asking the right questions and on finding a doctor who will listen to you. This book gives you the tools and the confidence to do just that.

About this title

Review

The great revelation of this book--which looks at the ways doctors and patients communicate with each other, and how both sides of the interaction can be improved--is that doctors are as frustrated with doctors as the general public is. Barbara Korsch talks about being belittled and patronized in interactions with her doctor--and he knew she was a fellow physician! This guide, based on Korsch's 50 years of research into doctor-patient dialogue, takes you, the patient, through each step of your interactions with physicians. It illustrates how to start on the proper note and continue until you get the information and treatment you need. The Intelligent Patient's Guide to the Doctor-Patient Relationship is an interesting book for anyone, and a valuable book for people whose physical conditions cause them to spend a lot of time with doctors.

About the Author

Barbara M. Korsch, M.D. is a professor at the Southern California School of Medicine and a practicing physician, as well as chairman of the council of the renowned Bayer Institute for Health Communication. She is a member of the National Academy of Science and has received numerous awards and honors for her work.
Caroline Harding is a science writer whose articles have appeared in many magazines, including National Wildlife and Modern Maturity.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0195126572
• ISBN 13: 9780195126570
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 304