Divorcing Your Doctor
[04/25/2000; Washington Post]
He doesn't listen. She won't take your phone calls or return them. She's
distracted and rushed. He always keeps you waiting. He doesn't
seem interested in you and can't seem to remember important details
of your life. She repeatedly interrupts you. She called you by
the wrong name. He got mad when you didn't take his advice. He's
cold and dismissive.
Sounds like the complaints of a husband or wife headed for divorce
court, right?
In fact the same accusations are frequently leveled
by disgruntled patients against their doctors, often as they
are about to dump the physicians and find someone new.
While few relationships between doctors and their patients involve
the two most loaded subjects in marriage -- money and sex --
there are other aspects of what social scientists call "the clinical
encounter" that closely mimic the dynamics of marriage. To succeed,
both relationships require trust, intimacy and honesty.
The full article can be found at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-04/25/032l-042500-idx.html
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