Tom Roberts, MD, an internal medicine resident at Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital, claims medical school did not adequately prepare him to converse with patients during difficult times — business school did.
In an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, Dr. Roberts discussed how the methodical approach to communication — gathering facts, writing out his objective and preparing for possible reactions, among other steps — is emphasized more in business school courses than it is in medical school. He said physicians' inability to effectively communicate diagnoses hinders patients and their families from receiving the information necessary to make difficult decisions.
"Like most doctors … I spent very little of this time [in medical school] learning how to work with patients … and only a few hours … learning to lead end-of-life conversations and deliver bad news … Few conversations are of greater consequence than those in which a doctor must tell someone their loved one is dying. Our conversational shortcomings in these moments prevent patients from understanding difficult diagnoses, leading some to pursue futile end-of-life treatments that do not increase the quality or duration of their lives … One of my most respected business professors … told me he still practices difficult conversations before he has them. It helps him clarify his goals and the means by which he can achieve them. Medical schools need to teach doctors to do the same."
To read the full op-ed, click here.
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