What surprise reveals

Something that has surprised me in recent interviews is people that people have responded to the question of "What does it mean for a doctor to respect you?" and "What does it mean for a doctor to listen to you?" by saying that one of the most important things is for a doctor to explain things to them—not just sending them off for this analysis or that test, but explaining the why behind their treatment. It makes sense—asking for an explanation is simply asking to be treated like an intelligent human being who wants to understand what is going on with her body.  I have to confess, I am embarrassed by my surprise, as it exposes the fact that I too assumed that the people I was interviewing weren’t educated enough to desire an explanation for their course of treatment or to want to know how the disease affecting them works. Or in the very least, I was assuming that they while they might desire an explanation, they would not be able to articulate the giving of an explanation as a way of showing respect. I wonder if local doctors (who actually have a degree in medicine, unlike me) also tend to assume that their patients either don’t really want to know the details of their disease or that they’re insufficiently educated to understand.  As I prepare to begin my interviews with doctors, I’m adding three questions that will hopefully shed some light on the patient-doctor dynamics when it comes to sharing information.

1. Do you think that your patients can understand the illnesses that they have?
2. Do you think it’s important to explain to the patient what illness they have?
3. Do you think it’s important to explain to your patients the justification for their treatment—why they need to go have a certain test done, or why they’re taking a certain medication?