PRACTICE PARTNER
lenge in a session is shedding light on the real issues.
When someone has mandated or strongly urged you to
get coaching, it’s easy to deflect attention. Here’s what
some people tell Dr. Martin. Politics are at work. My
colleague is the real problem. I get it right 99% of the
time, so why focus on the 1%? The few people who
complain will never be satisfied. How can I change
when I don’t even know what I did wrong?
How do the physicians in Dr. Martin’s sessions react to
her coaching? “Often it is not the physician’s choice to
come see me, so it’s important that I create a safe nonjudgmental place to be seen, heard and understood.
My goal is to help physicians ensure their good intentions are having the impact they intend.”
Dr. Martin is sympathetic. For one, the problem is
often perception, not intent. Yes, a patient or colleague
may have raised concerns about a doctor being insensitive, rude, patronizing, disrespectful, unresponsive,
indifferent or hard to understand. However, the doctor
didn’t aim to come across that way. As Dr. Martin says,
she has never met a physician who calls himself or herself uncaring, or who sets out to communicate poorly.
As any physician knows, technical skills and knowledge
require years of education, training and practice. Communications may seem more instinctive, yet calls for the same
committed effort – and is also a critical clinical skill.
Even if the problem is part of a pattern, it’s difficult to
be objective about your own strengths, weaknesses and
biases. “I have to make it really safe for people to take a
look at themselves,” says Dr. Martin.
Think of how strong communications supports better
diagnoses, patient trust and satisfaction, greater understanding, higher adherence, and improved outcomes.
With colleagues too, communications and collaboration
ultimately support enhanced care.
As part of her examination, she explores things like
the doctor’s training and outlook, and whether there
are underlying factors. What stresses are going on in
the doctor’s life? How is the doctor wired? Is he or she
overworked? Overwhelmed with health-system issues?
These aren’t excuses but a backdrop. So many factors
can get in the way of proper communications.
“You need to recognize,” says Dr. Martin, “that this is
part of your job as a physician.”
Getting to the root
Like anything else that makes people better physicians,
communications can be taught. Often, the first chal-
Consider, for instance, the pressures on the only specialist in a geographic area. This doctor keeps taking
on patients, the waiting room is full, and sometimes
something has to give. To keep appointments moving
Self-awareness can lead to self-correction
With patients, many issues require
medications, treatment or surgery;
other times, becoming healthier is a
matter of lifestyle changes.
Here, too, the remedy begins with
developing awareness. “Some level of
change is always possible and there is
no one right way. It is about the physician better understanding their own
interpersonal style, what’s working,
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what’s not, with whom and when,” says
Dr. Martin.
Awareness of Ourselves
2. inimize room for misinterpretaM
tion of your good intentions. A good
phrase is “it is not my intention to (e.g.,
appear judgment [ \ X\