The importance of effective communication in a doctor-patient relationship cannot be denied. However, not all doctors may possess good communication skill. Moreover, the burden of work, hostile patient parties, the fear or anxiety of patients, fear of abuse of doctors, litigation or physical violence, and unrealistic patient expectations might prove to be barriers in an effective doctor-patient communication. In such circumstances, communication training of doctors has proven to be largely effective in overcoming many such barriers. Source: Ha JF, Longnecker N.
Doctor-patient communication: a review. Ochsner J. 2010;10(1):38-43.
