This first source that we will be analyzing is a radio interview with author Danielle Ofri, about her newest book. Danielle Ofri is a doctor at New York's Bellevue Hospital and teaches at the New York School of Medicine. The book is an account of what experiences she has had as a doctor and what she personally believes the future of medicine should look like. The first thing she talks about is how medical schools can teach students to keep their emotions in check. Similar to most doctors, she also believes that emotions can cloud your judgement, including having an effect on both general professionalism and specifically the doctor-patient relationship.
The biggest thing that she addresses is how humor is used in the medical field as a coping mechanism. In the real world, doctors use humor as a way to access emotions, usually at the expense of patients. However, there are some “established” rules of humor. For example, it is considered acceptable to joke about alcoholics and drug addicts, but it’s not okay to joke about those with cancer. Some doctors believe that communication without any emotion is not the correct way to teach medical students, because many patients obviously prefer a caring, empathetic, human. She believes that is necessary is that doctors should get counseling for their emotions, the same way psychologists and psychiatrists get counseling for dealing with emotionally draining patients. The second thing she recommends is that supervising doctors must teach their students how to connect with patients better. Unless we begin enforcing this in students at an early age, it will be extremely difficult to expect this out of them later. The second source we will be analyzing is focused specifically on understanding the psychology behind physician attitudes and behaviors. This journal started with introducing something that Malcolm Gladwell said at the National Medical conference in 2008. He talked about the duality of being a doctor, the productive, personal side, that is rewarded by a mission driven spirit, and the conflicts that generate the impersonal side of healthcare, which affects physician attitudes. Over the years, physicians have become more frustrated with medicine. They refuse to focus on developing personal skills or team collaboration mechanics, which leads to a decrease in sensitivity and emotional intelligence. This problem is exacerbated by the health care system by setting boundaries. Studies show that more than 50% of physicians report a significant amount of stress. This increased stress and burnout can lead to more irritability, cynicism, apathy, fatigue, and serious depression. Many physicians ignore this stress and simply accept it as part of the job. Physicians soon become reluctant to ask for help due to risk of competency, confidentiality, and blow to ego. Let’s now take a look at how this can connect to the original purpose of this blog itself. How does knowing this information allow us to understand the lives of physicians? By seeing the realities of what a doctor has to go through on a daily basis, it makes it clearer how their lives function. In Danielle Ofri book, she clearly outlines how physicians cope with the difficulties that lead to stress. By expanding our view and outlook on the lives of physicians, it can be clearer for people who want to be doctors whether that is actually the right path for them. CHECK OUT THE STUDIES: http://www.wnyc.org/story/300739-emotions-doctors , http://medcraveonline.com/JPCPY/JPCPY-05-00312.pdf
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