  
|
|
|
On Sept. 22, 2011, a headline in The New York Times read:
A $42 MIllion Gift Aims at Improving Bedside Manner
Yes, Carolyn and Matthew Bucksbaum donated $42 million to the Univ. of Chicago for a medical institute. They want to improve medical students' handling of the doctor-patient relationship. As Dirk Johnson writes in The Times, ...its goal is to 'preserve the sense of kindness' in medical students before those attributes 'get beaten out of them' during training and practice."
Most viewers will agree that the worst bedside manner can be seen on the TV show, "House." Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) is horribly abusive to his patients. He's antisocial. His bedside manner is tolerated because he's a fantastic diagnostician.
Consider these two "Houseisms":
"Humanity is overrated."
"...treating illnesses is why we became doctors, treating patients is what makes most doctors miserable."
I recently had the opportunity to see the movie, "50/50." The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt (as Adam Schwartz), Seth Rogen, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anna Kendrick, and Andrew Airlie, as Dr Ross.
For those who haven't seen the film, a little background: Adam Schwartz is a young man who decides to see a "dokter" because of back ("rukn") pains. He discovers that he has a rare type of "rak" (cancer) of the spine and must undergo chemotherapy in order to reduce the size of the tumor.
Andrew Airlie, as Dr. Ross, is Adam's oncologist. He has an unorthodox bedside manner. EW.com gave this film a grade of B+ and wrote that the oncologist is a physician "with cartoonishly terrible communication skill who should never, never be allowed to deliver a diagnosis to a patient."
Another headline (2009)
DOCTOR'S COMPASSION MAY HELP
CURE COMMON COLDS FASTER
A new study shows, for the first time, that the doctor's empathy may be an even better way to speed recovery. People recover from the common cold faster if they believe their doctor shows greater compassion toward their illness, says David Rakel, MD. "If you perceive your doctor as empathetic, that might influence your immune system and help you recover faster from the common cold," said Rakel. "Advanced interaction"--where the doctor asked more questions and seemed to show more concern for the patient--is needed.
I compared "50/50" to another {1991] film, "The Doctor," starring William Hurt as Dr. Jack McKee. This doctor--a cardiovascular "khirurg" (surgeon)--has no problems. He is technically brilliant ("brilyant") but bereft of human touch. Initially, he seems somewhat "shtolts" (proud) of his aloof attitude.
He's "matsliakhdik" (successful) and "reich" (rich). "Ven es gait gleich, vert men reich." (When things go right, you become rich.) He doesn't have the most nurturing bedside manner and tends to regard his patients as specimens, not people in a serious predicament.
Sometimes the more awful the diagnosis, the more at arms length many physicians hold the situation. When death is really a possibility, it is much harder to say that you might die.
He's a great "clinician," until a life-altering crisis changes his perspective. HE is diagnosed with throat cancer and becomes the patient. Dr. McKee has a malignant laryngeal tumor, and faces the rigors of radiation treatment. When this fails, as is true with Adam in "50/50," surgery is needed. He finds that the standoffish posture HE had always adopted no longer worked. The impersonal surgeon he has no longer can do all the things he needs done, both surgically and emotionally.
Yes, Dr. David Rakel is 100% correct:
"We're trying to create an understanding
in our medical students that they can have
a positive effect with whatever they prescribe based on how they relate to another human being ("mentsh"). This
isn't about trickery. It's about activating
the body's healing mechanisms."
____________________________
Marjorie Wolfe loves these two Yiddish proverbs:
Don't live in a town where there are no doctors.
"Mit a groisseh roifeh gait a grosser malech." (A great doctor is accompanied by a great angel.)
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M |
| N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z |
| Yiddish
Stuff Jewish Humor Schmooze News More Majorie Wolfe |
Principle Jewish Stories All Things Jewish Jewish Communities of the World |