From:
Gary Seto <glseto@mac.com>
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Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2005 22:45:21 -0800
Subject: Re: [Practiceimprovement1] The effects of
better listening
Reply-To: Practiceimprovement1@yahoogroups.com
I would guess that most, if not all of us, have the skills of active listening. But we probably didn't have those skills coming out of residency. I know I didn't. It took me a few years to feel comfortable with the technical part of medicine before I started paying attention to the "touchy-feely" part of being a doctor. What has surprised me over the years is that I now believe the "touchy-feely" part of medicine to be more important than the technical aspects. Not that you can be a doctor who doesn't know what you're doing, but there are still many more things that can't be healed by pills and surgery than those that can. And that's where those skills come in. Skills I wasn't trained in during my medical education. I would wager very few of us were.
For the past several years, I have volunteered being an instructor for 1st year medical students in a course called "Doctoring" where students learn about interviewing techniques, asking open ended questions, etc. just like in the article that Gordon referenced. And even though I was supposed to be an instructor, I found that I learned about some of these skills, too, and started incorporating them in my own practice style. Perhaps that's why I went from being a doctor who could keep up with 15 minute appointments at Kaiser to one that was chronically behind. All I know is, I felt like I wanted to and needed to take the time to listen. And that took, you know, time. Anyways, I think I am a better listener (and doctor) than I used to be, but it took some work to get there. And although I'm confident that I'm a skilled communicator now, I'm willing to admit that I could be an even better one given the right sort of training.
Gary Seto