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The Cultural World of the Patient

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Principles of Clinical Practice
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Abstract

A primary care resident complained to the author after seeing a 23-year-old Navaho patient in the clinic exam room: “He didn’t once look me in the eye. I couldn’t tell whether he really understood what I was saying or whether he’ll take the medication I prescribed.” [Among traditional Navahos, aversion of gaze, avoidance of direct eye contact, is a sign of respect toward and deference to another.]

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© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Stein, H.F. (1991). The Cultural World of the Patient. In: Mengel, M.B. (eds) Principles of Clinical Practice. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1657-0_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1657-0_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-1659-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-1657-0

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