Feb 21, 2016

The Doctor’s New Dilemma

Suzanne Koven, M.D.

N Engl J Med 2016; 374:608-609February 18, 2016DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1513708
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1513708?query=TOC

I read an article in New England Journal of Medicine today. This article talks about how we could help our patients solving their problem by caring a little bit more about their feeling, despite the fact that time is never enough for doctors. Nevertheless, since I began to practice as a TCM doctor, I enjoy chatting with patients about their life experience and things that bother them, which usually is the cause of their discomfort.

I'll never get bored since the patient who came to see me ranged from 2-96 years old (according to my patients for the past few years), boys and girls, men and women and they do all kinds of jobs. By talking to them, I get to know how their way of life affect their body and mind. I have to find out the real problem and try to fix it accordingly. Not to mention the time we spend on medical record. Usually we have to do all these in 15-20 minutes for new patient in Taiwan. Here comes the doctor's new dilemma.

"Do I ask her what’s really bothering her and risk a time-consuming interaction? Or do I accept what she’s saying at face value and risk missing a chance to truly help her?"




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