Engaging Your Patients and Your Team
Curiosity Killed...Nobody
The world is a crazy place and uniquely impactful for everyone. As leaders, whether of your clinical team, practice, residency program, or department, we manage and interface with a diverse array of people for more of our week than not. To best engage your work family, always be curious about behaviors or actions. Assuming why someone is feeling a certain way is very different from asking, “Is everything okay?” And following with, “I notice you are not yourself today. I am here to listen.” Do not assume or withdraw; be curious to best collaborate and partner with your team.
Adam Friedman, MD | Washington, DC
Non-Dismissive Approach
I often find myself in the following situation. Mr Jones is visiting my office for an appointment. He and I have established a rapport, and at the conclusion of the office visit he is happy with the service. At this point, Mr Jones says, “My wife is looking for a dermatologist. Can she come see you as well?” I like to first gently inquire as to the nature of the spouse’s concern. If it is something that our office treats without referral, then I am happy to agree on the spot to see Mr Jones’s wife, and I ask the receptionist right then and there to facilitate the appointment. However, Mr Jones will often reply with something along the lines of, “My wife has had a terrible rash for the past 10 years that no doctor has been able to figure out.”
I have found that the rapport previously established with Mr Jones quickly melts away if I inform him, “Sorry, your wife will need a referral from her family physician.” Instead, I proceed as follows. I tell Mr Jones: “Yes, I would be very happy to treat your wife. What is her name?” Mr Jones will then respond: “Her name is Mary Jones.” This is when I reply: “Mary Jones—perfect! I am very much looking forward to meeting with her. Please ask her family physician to send me a quick request and we will be sure to book her in right away. I will be keeping my eye out for the letter about Mary Jones.” Sometimes, I even provide Mr Jones with my business card so the family physician will have my contact information handy. The rapport with Mr Jones is thus maintained. He feels that I have shown a genuine interest in his wife. Even if we have not granted an appointment immediately, we have at least outlined the steps he can follow. I could have just said, “Tell your wife to get a referral.” But because I took the time to ask for his wife’s name, repeated her name back to him twice, and told Mr Jones I will be watching for the referral letter, he does not feel that he or his wife is being dismissed.
Norman Wasel, MD, FRCPC| Toronto, Ontario, Canada
A Simple Act of Empathy
“It sounds like you feel no one has really listened to you about this problem.” This simple act of empathy disarms tension, validates the patient’s experience, and creates a moment of trust. Once emotions subside, reintroduce medical reasoning calmly. This skill, borrowed from psychotherapy, is invaluable in dermatology, where chronic visible diseases often carry deep emotional burdens.
Ronald Vender, MD, FRCPC| Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
