November 2020 Communication Tip

Knowing the Person (Margaret Tempero, MD & Sima Porten, MD)

Over the last few months, in this monthly Communication column, we’ve covered the 5 steps of the Serious Illness Communication Guide.  If you are working on that, I’d love to hear how it’s going or any questions that have come up.

This month, as I do every few months, I’m featuring advice from folks who have been recognized (based on Press Ganey scores) as great communicators. 

Both Margaret Tempero and Sima Porten share a few pearls of wisdom, below, related to KNOWING THE PATIENT AS A PERSON.

 

At some point in time during the consultation I will ask my patient re: what brings them joy (I borrowed this from my Osher center colleagues). It helps me to get to know the patient personally as well as start the discussion regarding quality of life and choice of treatment and symptom management.

-Sima Porten, MD, MPH

 

The most important initial lesson is knowing the person before you probe about the disease. So I always start the intake with understanding the patient’s profession and hobbies and their support system. In others words, do the social history first with emphasis on the social. That way, when I start explaining the disease and the treatment, I can do it in appropriate context. 

-Margaret Tempero, M.D.

 

So consider doing the Social History first!

 

Knowing your patient is important clinically, but it is also part of making your clinical work rich, fulfilling, and sustainable.  Ultimately, recognizing the personhood of the patient means bringing ourselves into the visit as people too.  Perhaps we might be led to recognize how important we are to healing, beyond just the treatments we prescribe.

 

Here’s a sweet poem about why WE matter.

 

THERAPY

 

to Phillip

 

You attribute my recovery

to nor trip tyline —

its effects on neurotransmitters,

on the a myg dala.

 

You barely nod towards your worth —

insisting on blood levels,

on a therapeutic dose.

 

While I credit half our success

to pear trees blossoming white

beyond your left shoulder,

 

to the wisteria —

its pink flowers hanging

lush and fragrant

over the portico,

 

to the warmth of your hand.

 

John Wright, M.D.

 

 

Best

mike