Communication gap: Doctors urged to develop interactive skills

Healthy doctor-patient relationship can only flourish if doctor is able to communicate with ordinary people, says prof

HYDERABAD:

A healthy doctor-patient relationship can only flourish if the doctor is able to communicate with ordinary people who may not understand medical terminology, said Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences Jamshoro’s associate professor and renowned surgeon, Dr Faisal Ghani Siddiqui.

While talking to the media, he said that residents in medical programmes, especially in developing countries, do not receive any training in communication skills which means that they are lacking in this important discipline when they become professional doctors.

Moreover doctors who have received their training in English fail to successfully relay information to their patients, especially in urban areas.

Dr Faisal urged the senior faculty members in medical training institutions to promote literary programmes which would help the interns develop communication skills and help them in their future goals.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30^th, 2013.