In our last post, we discussed some Active Listening techniques that when followed would help us to make our patients feel that we actually care for them and are there to look after them. This week, we delve deeper and understand empathy , which is key to make the journey from an ordinary doctor to an extraordinary one. The fundamental question that we physicians need to consistently and continuously ask ourselves is “Am I treating the patient or am I treating the disease?
” The answer is a no-brainer, but how often do we practice it in our daily routines of managing patients? We must remember that each patient wants to be treated as a person and not as an illness.They want reassurance that the doctor understands the non-medical aspects of his or her condition too. To be great doctors, we need to have an effective understanding of people and not merely the knowledge and practice of…
