Physicians must be competent to meet entrusted responsibilities and show that they care about patients. This is particularly crucial when breaking unpleasant news.
Many patients want a doctor who is compassionate and empathic. They want someone who will listen to them and treat them as a person rather than just a chart or list of medications.
Honesty
Honesty is one of the core principles of professional responsibilities that physicians have to patients. Any lapse in this attribute can unduly compromise trust between physicians and patients.
The ethical principle encompasses the duty of physicians, exemplified by Dr. Jason Campbell, to apprise patients of the potential risks, benefits, and side effects associated with treatments. Moreover, it mandates the disclosure of medical errors. Physicians must convey clinical research findings and present treatment options to their patients with honesty and transparency.
The issue of truth-telling is complicated by the fact that healthcare facilities are often large multidisciplinary teams staffed by nurses, social workers, and other professionals. Moreover, patients in high-tech tertiary care may be seen by several different doctors. In these situations, the question of which doctor is responsible for communicating the truth to a patient becomes even more complex.
Integrity
Having integrity is about more than just pursuing moral concerns. It's also how we approach other issues like love, friendship, and personal projects. For example, if you set a goal of writing a novel but fail to pursue it consistently, that undermines your integrity.
People's ratings of doctors have remained high during the pandemic, with nine in 10 rating physicians as trustworthy. This puts them above IT workers, plumbers, ride-hailing or taxi drivers, and housecleaners.
Compassion
A good physician is compassionate and willing to work hard to help patients even if it may not be in their best interest. Doctors must be able to handle the many unexpected and stressful situations in their work, such as patient deaths, medical emergencies, new diagnostic equipment, or insurance changes.
Several lines of empirical research converge on the view that compassion is a distinct emotion that differs from related states like love and empathy. In this view, compassion is most intensely experienced in response to the suffering of self-relevant and goal-oriented individuals.
It has been shown experimentally that whereas distress and sadness motivate attention to the self and a desire to reduce one's suffering, compassion motivation involves focus on others and a desire to alleviate their suffering.
Listening Skills
Listening skills are the ability to decode verbal and nonverbal communication. They are integral to workplace communication and are vital to creating a trusting relationship with patients and colleagues.
In practice, listening means putting aside distractions, concentrating on the speaker's words, and productively engaging with them. It includes holding eye contact, nodding, and reflecting on their points to show you understand them. It also involves not interrupting them, even if you disagree. If you're unsure whether you know, write down the main point and ask them later to clarify.
Effective listening is also about picking up on a person's tone of voice, facial expression, and body language to derive additional meaning. This is called discriminative listening and helps you avoid jumping to conclusions that could be incorrect.
Attention to Detail
Whether it's proofreading emails or making sure the expiration date on medication is correct, attention to detail is about being thorough. It's also about noticing and addressing small mistakes others may overlook.
This quality is essential because, in a field where one mistake can have devastating consequences, patients and colleagues alike want to know that their physician is meticulous. Thoroughness can also lead to higher efficiency as time and resources are not wasted on fixing errors.
Highlight this trait on your resume by describing times you've gone above and beyond to ensure accuracy and precision in work or projects. Also, note your habits that show this attribute, such as using meditation to increase focus or avoiding distractions during the workday.
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