Becoming A Better Doctor For Your Patients

When you decide to become a doctor, you already know that it’ll be a long path until you can finally be in a position to heal your patients safely. There is a lot to learn, first in books, and then in practice. After all, there can’t be a good doctor without proper training. But, in their hurry to become a professional physician, a lot of students forget to add some essential tools to improve their future relationship with their patients, and sometimes they forget to ask, “what does patient experience mean?”. Indeed, knowledge and experience make you a doctor, but it’s the soft skills that truly make the difference when it comes to patient care. Your patients have a variety of emotions and feelings about their bodies. They can experience shame, embarrassment, and fear. In fact, health is an emotional roller-coaster for most patients, which is something you need to be prepared for as it will be your role to comfort them.

Help to dissipate the shame

Let’s be honest. From a patient’s perspective, no all health complaints are equal. In fact, it’s fair to say that the same patient might be happy to discuss a cough but would be too embarrassed to talk openly about intimate issues. That’s precisely why experts in reproductive health such as https://www.urologygeorgia.com need to know a few tips to put their patients at ease. For a start, it’s essential to ensure that the setting of your medical store has a private consultation area where patients can be sure that nobody is going to watch them. Additionally, it is often the responsibility of the doctor to approach the patient and guide them to reveal an embarrassing issue. Some people feel too uncomfortable to open up, so it’s crucial to start the conversation by asking the right questions. 

Gain more experience

There is no denying that the best way to learn how to handle stressful situations is to be in a position where you can safely observe and learn. This is precisely what pre-med students should join specific programs to hone their soft skills. Shadowing your local doctor can prove very educational when it comes to managing patients and improving their self-confidence. It may not replace the first-hand experience, but it can certainly teach you a lot of the human mind. You can volunteer with the Global Medical Brigades, for instance, to be able to act within underserved communities, so that you can get used to deal with difficult issues without getting emotionally involved – it’s an essential skill to have if you want to support patients. You could also gain more experience and knowledge about how to use technology, like emr reporting software, to free you and your staff from paperwork in order to better treat your patients!

Be trained to deal with fear

Aside from shame, the other negative emotion that can stop patients from seeing a doctor is fear. A lot of people can experience anxiety and high stress when they need to see a doctor. Indeed, the worry about the what ifs of the health, about the potential issues that could have developed without their knowledge is a common complaint for patients. Often, doctors need to be sympathetic and understanding to help re-start the health check process. You need to know how to calm down someone who is afraid.

The emotional skills of a doctor can make the difference between someone who can diagnose a health complaint and someone who can genuinely make patients feel better. Hone your soft skills if you want to be the doctor who makes a difference.