Doctor,
just let me finish
(This article was first printed in
the August 2004 issue of the Harvard Health
Letter. For more information or to order,
please go to www.health.harvard.edu/health.)
Researchers who have studied how doctors relate
to patients say zeroing in on the first problem
can be a mistake. People often hold back a little
when they’re talking to doctors, or they
may not be sure what to tell a doctor. Doctors
who jump in too soon with questions miss out
on important information. Experts in patient-doctor
interactions now say that doctors should use
open-ended comments like “Anything else?” to
keep their patients talking.
Israeli researchers published a study of patient
opening “monologues” in early 2004
in the British Medical Journal. On the
first day of the study, the eight participating
doctors weren’t coached. On the second
day, the researchers told them not to interrupt
patients’ statements until they thought
the patients were finished. The advice worked:
Twice as many patients got to speak without
being interrupted, yet the opening monologues
were, on average, just two seconds longer (26
seconds versus 28 seconds). A study of American
family physicians several years ago came to a
similar conclusion. Patients who were allowed
to speak about their concerns without interruption
used only six more seconds on average than those
who were “redirected” by their doctor.
Doctors are pressed for time these days, but
these studies show that they may not be risking
much of it by listening to patients for a while.
And they may learn something in the process.
(This article was first printed in
the August 2004 issue of the Harvard Health
Letter. For more information or to order,
please go to www.health.harvard.edu/health.)
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