'...few patients realise how deeply they can affect their doctors. that is a big secret in medicine - one doctors hate to admit. we think about, talk about, dream about our patients. we went into clinical medicine because we like dealing on a personal, even intinmate level with people who have chosen to put their bodies in our hands. our patients make or break our days.
take the compliment. our career choice means we really do think that you - with your aches and pains - are more interesting than trading hot securities, more fun than a courtroom full of lawyers. massaging the ego is the key to manipulating responsible type like doctors. when we feel your trust, you have us. the most compelling reasons to be a good patient are selfish ones. you will get more than free drug samples if your doctor is comfortable and communicates easily with you. you get more of the mind that you came for, a mind working better because it's relaxed - recalling and associating freely, more receptive to small, even subliminal clues. that means better medical care. but you should try to be a good patient for unselfish reasons too. we worry about you 60 hours a week. we give up our 20s for you. why not show us some love? its not hard...
...the medical relationship is intrinsically one sided. its about you and your problem. i am going to find out more about you in the next 20 mins than you will find out about me. dont fret about that. we dont expect you to ask much about us. good patients answer questions accurately and completely. they ask questions too.
but many patients talk too much. you might notice that we are writing when we see you - we are creating your chart. we need specific facts but not every fact in your life...
...are doctors good patients? others may disagree, but i think they are. medical jargon doesnt faze them, so communication is easier, and their expectations tend to be more reasonable. anyone in medicine is painfully aware that there are plenty of problems for which we have no good answer. nurses tend to be even better patients, being adept at following doctors' orders - a virtue lacking in doctors. doctors and nurses also know when to respect an educated opinion..
...but you need not be a medical professional or educated at all to be a great patient. its pretty much the same strain of human decency - a truthful consideration of who the people around you are and of what they are trying to do - that infects a good patient and any good person.'
(c) times magazine '06