Communication and how patient-doctor interact is important in modern diagnosis of patients. Both verbal and non-verbal communication is important during treatment session. Ability to decode such expression help doctors relate well and give best treatment to patients. In this short essay, we look at the interaction of Dr. Drossman with simulated patient Ms. Smith (Dr.Halpert) who presumably suffers from IBS and her husband. The video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsAhKpulKGU"feature=youtu.be
is then related to past research articles (Levenson, Erman and Friesen 362-375) and (Roter et al. 28-34).
Verbal and non-verbal communication are important in medical interaction between any doctors and patients. Doctors need nonverbal sensitivity to correctly diagnose patients especially in cases where not everything is communicated verbally by the patients. Moreover, we have to realize that most of the aspect in communication from both patients and the Doctor are influenced by emotion. Nonverbal communication are behaviors portrayed during communication that carry no linguistic content. In the video, Dr. Drossman remarked on several instances of non-verbal communication from the couple. First, Ms. Smith’s husband is mostly sitting while crossing his arm which is a clear indication of anger and disdain. Though most questions are direct to Ms. Smith, the husband intrude in several instances and in the long run dominated the first set of interaction. Other aspects of non-verbal communication in the video are facial expression and eye contact (especially when Ms. Smith or the husband usher in each other to take up the conversion/explanation), Ms. Smith putting her hand on her lips, hand gestures, postural positions (mostly closed body posture by Ms. Smith’s husband) and most dominantly the immense dialogic behaviors (speech interruption) throughout the conversation.
Verbal communication is however dominant in the entire conversation. The verbal communication begins from the instance Dr. Drossman enters the room, throughout the conversion when he tries to have a conversation with the couple to weigh on their past and determine best medication for Ms. Smith based on symptoms and past experiences. The Audience at the same time are involved in the conversation to better highlight the condition and determine best diagnosis.
There are several instance in the video/ conversation that create a turning point and make the interaction more positive. The first instance is when Dr. Drossman moves his chair closer to the patient and create a moment of laughter in the room. This breaks the monotony and the sadness that initially filled the room and give the patient a fresh line of thought. It also portray Dr. Drossman as interested and ready to help the couple find solution for their IBS problem. The second instance s that spice up the conversation is when Dr. Drossman comments on a light note that he will take care of the kids while the couple meet a counsellor for further treatment. They all laugh about it, taking it as a joke.
Dr. Drossman’s approach is ok according to my analysis and in the interaction process, he did several things correctly. The first correct thing done by Dr. Drossman is involvement of the audience to contribute in the assessment of the patient condition. The second is his breaking of monotony and sad emotion in the room using nicely interjected jokes to force the couple to loosen up and be more revealing. Finally, the manner Dr. Drossman thinks outside the box and uses the husband to learn more about the situation instead of only focusing on the patient. The only thing I would do differently is to record most of the important points noted during the conversation to help in future reflection as he tries to get permanent solution for the couple.
References
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsAhKpulKGU"feature=youtu.be
Levenson, Robert, Paul Erman, and Wallace Friesen. "Voluntary Facial Action Generates Emotions-Specific Autonomic Nervous System Activities." The society of psychophysiological research 27.4 (1990): 362-375. Print.
Roter, Debra et al. "The Expression of Emotions through Nonverbal Behaviour in Medical Visits." 21.s (2006): 28-34. Web. 30 Oct. 2018.
