Doctor-Patient Interaction

 

 

     In class we talked about different doctor-patient interactions. I am going to talk about the three different types that were mentioned and why doctor-patient interaction is important.

     First I am going to explain to you what a doctor-patient interaction is, a doctor-patient interaction is the relationship between the doctor and the patient that is reliant on trust, cooperation, and honesty between the two of them. I am going to include another definition in someone else's words so that you can get a better grasp of what doctor-patient interaction is a relationship that is oriented towards the doctor helping the patient deal with a health issue. This writer also says that the physician has the dominant role because he or she is an expert and it is their job to help their patient to get back to normal. They say that the patient hold the position to negotiate, accept, and also reject the doctor's requests and recommendations, except in a medical emergency. In a medical emergency the doctor is trying to, potentially, save a life and they may disregard your negotiation or rejection (Cockerham 2012; pg.193). In another article that I read they talk about how it can be very uncomfortable between the patient and the doctor and it is the doctor's job to make the patient feel safe and comfortable and in order to do their job they need to be respectful, as does the patient, compassionate, to have patience, both sides need to be trustworthy, and they both need to be open and honest with each other for the patient to get well as quick as possible. (American Healthways 2003) The health care professional plays a big role in a patient's life and health care professionals often come into the patient's life at the worst and hardest time for the patient. Therefore the doctor needs to be able to be compassionate, honest, and caring to help this person get through their hard times and get them back to their normal self. There are three types of doctor-patient interactions that I am going to talk about, those include activity-passivity, guidance-cooperation, and mutual participation.

     
     The first type of doctor patient interaction that we talked about is known as activity-passivity and this is where the patient is at the doctor's office for an emergency, say the emergency room, and the patient doesn't really talk to the doctor or know what is going on. The doctor makes all the decisions because it is their job to make the patient healthy or in some cases keep them alive, the patient if in a harsh condition is not clued in before they get worked on, this doctor patient interaction is only for harsh illnesses and times when someone gets seriously injured.

     

     The second type that we talked about in class is known as guidance-cooperation and this is for times when the patient is sick or ill. In this type the patient knows what is going on and is kept on board. This is also where the doctor is telling the patient what they can do to make themselves healthy again and the patient understands and follows the doctors recommendations. In this situation the patient is cooperating and looking to the doctor for his decisions on the situation. Below I included a video as an example for
guidance-cooperation.

 

     

    

     In the third doctor-patient interaction, called mutual participation, the patient and the doctor decide how to change the lifestyle of the patient to make them healthy and help them to live longer. This doctor patient interaction is for those with chronic illnesses, just in case you don't know what a chronic illness is, a chronic illness is a disease that is long lasting or recurrent and it greatly impacts your life. (The only doctor-patient interactions that I have discussed are where the patient cooperates, but I'm sure there are cases where the patients don't cooperate.)

 

     The interactions between a doctor and a patient are important for many reasons, (some of which I included earlier in my blog) some reasons are that the patient probably feels uncomfortable and in order for them to listen and be close to the doctor the doctor first has to make the patient feel some-what comfortable. It is also important because the healing of an individual depends greatly on the relationship they have with their doctor, if they don't trust their doctor then they aren't going to listen to them. If they don't feel comfortable with their doctor they aren't going to listen, and if they aren't going to be open then they are going to be shy and timid about being honest. If the doctor and patient don't respect each other then they aren't going to want to put up with each other and the health issue isn't going to get dealt with. A doctor has a great impact on a person's life during their times of sickness, as I said earlier, and doctor-patient interaction has a huge role on health care and a person's views on the medical world.

     

     Since I think it would be interesting to get you thinking about it, today I am going to leave you with this question, what doctor-patient interactions have you experienced and why do you think it was important to act that way? 

 

 

 

 

References:

     I. Defining the Patient-Physician Relationship for the 21st Century. (2003, November 2)

               American Healthways, 1-44.

     II. F, M. (2001). Understanding the Humanistic Interaction with Medical. The College of                Radiographers, 1-9.
     III. Cockerham, William C. 2012. Medical Sociology, 12th Ed. Boston: Prentice Hall.