Abstract
The interaction between two perceptive, calm persons of similar background generally does not pose undue problems. However, any dissimilarity between them, and any emotional distress of either, may interfere with communication. To help students overcome barriers to communication with patients, I had them produce a collective list of such barriers and suggest ways to deal with them. However, unlike students’ eager participation in discussions of patient interviewing, they identified on their own only few barriers to communication, and had to be informed about possible ways to deal with them. Furthermore, whereas interviewing techniques could be imparted through demonstration and supervised practice using real patients, overcoming barriers to communication could be taught mostly through role-playing.
A previous version of parts of this chapter was published in: Benbassat J, Baumal R. What is empathy and how can it be promoted during the clinical clerkships. Academic Medicine 2004; 79: 832–839. With permission by Wolters Kluwer.
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Benbassat, J. (2015). Barriers to Doctor–Patient Communication. In: Teaching Professional Attitudes and Basic Clinical Skills to Medical Students. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20089-7_7
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