Guest guest Posted September 6, 2004 Report Share Posted September 6, 2004 Dear Sue, I come against this problem all the time - people having nonsensical prescriptions and wrong diagnosis from their doctor, who is " such a nice doctor that he/she cannot possibly be wrong " . One of my friends who is a GP in Scotland recently lamented the resignation of one of the parters from the surgery - apperently the best doctor in the surgery alas people did not like his bed side manner and kept leaving his list. There are lots and lots rubbishy practitioners (in all therapies) out there who are very successful only because they are nice. I suppose we all prefer to see nice people and trust them, because they are nice... Newton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 6, 2004 Report Share Posted September 6, 2004 I think being competent and knowledgable is only one part of healing, it's fig 1 so to say. Fig 2 is the relationship. By describing their practitioner as being " nice " , these patients may be describing how well he/she connected with them on a personal level. And many people come to us just because they feel we are " nice " , i.e. we sincerely listen, take them seriously, try to make them feel at ease in a geniune way etc etc. I read somewhere in " The therapeutic relationship in complementary health care " (great book) that patients tended to view their doctors as competent, even if the treatment hadn't worked or the doctor had made a mistake - BUT ONLY IF their relationship with the doctor was good and they felt genuinely cared for. (Not talking about insincere cheesy smiles here) What does it mean, " he was the best doctor in the surgery " ? What does it mean to be a " good " doctor/herbalist ? I think to get really good entails more than tangible skills and knowledge. It's easy to forget that in the struggle to be competent and up-to-date with stuff and seeing that we never learned it during our training (not at CoP anyway). Something for a CPD course? Best wishes Struggling Sabine At the same time, thanks for all the replies to LBA - I'd thought it sounded very dubious... I'll now have the tricky job of gently bursting the bubble for my patient...she was extremely taken with the whole thing... Sabine Hiller BSc(Hons) MIIMH MNIMH Medical Herbalist Knockrooskey Westport Co.Mayo Tel. 098-35909 herbalist@... RE: being " nice " > > Dear Sue, > I come against this problem all the time - people having nonsensical prescriptions and wrong diagnosis from their doctor, who is " such a nice doctor that he/she cannot possibly be wrong " . One of my friends who is a GP in Scotland recently lamented the resignation of one of the parters from the surgery - apperently the best doctor in the surgery alas people did not like his bed side manner and kept leaving his list. There are lots and lots rubbishy practitioners (in all therapies) out there who are very successful only because they are nice. I suppose we all prefer to see nice people and trust them, because they are nice... > Newton > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 6, 2004 Report Share Posted September 6, 2004 quotation taken out of context from one of them Greek bods (Hippocrates even?) (a good physician is able ) to heal sometimes to relieve often to comfort always. pin it up so you can see it before each patient arrives and do it. mariannexx ==================================================== nne Last BA MNIMH Consultant Medical Herbalist Monmouth Herbal Clinic Tel: 01600 719497 www.mariannelast.co.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 8, 2004 Report Share Posted September 8, 2004 Hi Sabine, of course I believe that it is essential to build a good relationship with our patients. That goes without saying. What I was referring to was the incompetence masked by good bed-side manner and inability of many patients to distinguish between the two. The doctor I was referring to was most competent in terms of knowledge and that was an opinion of his colleagues, which of course was not the same as the patients' view who did not appreciate his manner. The fact that a doctor/practitioner is perceived as nice does not mean he/she is genuine or competent (a rather extreme case of Shipman comes to mind). So, as much as I believe in the importance of genuine compassion for the patients, I do not equate nice manner with competence. I have no doubt that the therapeutic value of listening and caring is huge, but I like seeing it coupled to sound knowledge of a given therapy. With best wishes Newton Sabine Hiller wrote: I think being competent and knowledgable is only one part of healing, it's fig 1 so to say. Fig 2 is the relationship. By describing their practitioner as being " nice " ,these patients may be describing how well he/she connected with them on a personal level. And many people come to us just because they feel we are " nice " , i.e. we sincerely listen, take them seriously, try to make them feel at ease in a geniune way etc etc. I read somewhere in " The therapeutic relationship in complementary health care " (great book) that patients tended to view their doctors as competent, even if the treatment hadn't worked or the doctor had made a mistake - BUT ONLY IF their relationship with the doctor was good and they felt genuinely cared for. (Not talking about insincere cheesy smiles here) What does it mean, " he was the best doctor in the surgery " ? What does it mean to be a " good " doctor/herbalist ? I think to get really good entails more than tangible skills and knowledge. It's easy to forget that in the struggle to be competent and up-to-date with stuff and seeing that we never learned it during our training (not at CoP anyway). Something for a CPD course? Best wishes Struggling Sabine At the same time, thanks for all the replies to LBA - I'd thought it sounded very dubious... I'll now have the tricky job of gently bursting the bubble for my patient...she was extremely taken with the whole thing... Sabine Hiller BSc(Hons) MIIMH MNIMH Medical Herbalist Knockrooskey Westport Co.Mayo Tel. 098-35909 herbalist@... RE: being " nice " > > Dear Sue, > I come against this problem all the time - people having nonsensical prescriptions and wrong diagnosis from their doctor, who is " such a nice doctor that he/she cannot possibly be wrong " . One of my friends who is a GP in Scotland recently lamented the resignation of one of the parters from the surgery - apperently the best doctor in the surgery alas people did not like his bed side manner and kept leaving his list. There are lots and lots rubbishy practitioners (in all therapies) out there who are very successful only because they are nice. I suppose we all prefer to see nice people and trust them, because they are nice... > Newton > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 8, 2004 Report Share Posted September 8, 2004 Hi, Having triggered the discussion it was interesting to watch the new series with Clunes on TV last week, a very humorous look at a competent Doctor with no bedside manner whatever, and actually not a huge amount of discretion or understanding of patient confidentiality either. It made very funny viewing though. Re: being " nice " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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