OST Clinical Medicine for the MRCP PACES Volume-1 Core Clinical Skills & Volume- 2 History Taking Communication And Ethics By Gautam Mehta printed

Publisher: Oxford 

Language: English

ISBN:9780199542550

Year: 2011 Reprinted 

Edition:1st

Pages:992

Author: Gautam Mehta, Bilal Iqbal, Deborah Bowman

Product Type: Paperback

Condition: New

Price: ₹12,500

Delivery Time:7-8 days

Description

Ask any patient what matters about their care, and communication is likely to be near the top of their agenda. The communication they need is not just about the language used, and the depth of the explanation, but about the way in which the process is conducted. Communication allows the transmission of empathy, compassion, and care as well as facts about the illness and possible treatment. It is also about listening, not just hearing, what the patient says.

One of the privileges of being a doctor is to be allowed to share the stories of patients. These allow the doctor to become involved and by listening enabled to interpret the story, understand it and make some sense of it. That is a very particular skill and is at the heart of the consultation. Add to this the need to consider a wide variety of ethical issues and the task becomes even more complex. Discussions on consent, or on whether to proceed with treatment, are not easy. But it is what doctors do, and the newer methods of learning to communicate, and not just to be dropped in at the deep end, can make a difference. This is what this book is about.

Patients have huge experience of their illness and their symptoms and what they mean to thern. The privilege is being allowed to share that and to have an opportunity of changing things for the better. Two lessons have been important for me. First, the mantra of not getting involved with patients, was one that was taught to me as an undergraduate. I don't think it works. Empathy, kindness, and compassion require involvement and professionalism does not mean that one cannot feel concern for a patient or a family and want to make a difference. I read somewhere of the patient who asked, 'my story is broken, can you help me fix it?" To do that effectively does require active listening and participation.

The second is that patients are highly sophisticated and can teach doctors a lot about how to behave. As an oncologist many years ago, I set up a series of cancer support groups. I like to think that they made contribution to helping patients and their families. However what I am sure of is that they helped the clinical staff understand better what the problems really were. We benefited as least as much as the patients did, if not more, and I have always been grateful for all that they taught me

Finally, a word on equanimity. This was the subject of one of Sir William Osler's great essays. It means the ability to be able to keep a clear head, provide a way forward and give confidence and calmness when things get difficult. It too is part of the communication which is so important between patient and doctor.