Many bright medical students have scored high marks in college but that they do not become successful popular doctors. Medical etiquette is simply good proper behaviour that is expected of physicians and nurses when dealing with patients.
Delivering good gratifying medical care involves more than knowledge, skills, and ethics. It also requires two vital components often overlooked: empathy and medical etiquette.
AN IMPORTANT ASPECT
Etiquette is usually not emphasized during medical training in this country. As a result, our professionals often lack it woefully. Consequently, do not be surprised to meet a top-notched specialist with a string of degrees below his name, who may forget the etiquette of offering you a seat when you enter his chamber, and continue talking on the phone.
A resident doctor, who comes to train with us to become a super specialist, is often grossly deficient in etiquette. In the busy and crowded OPD, I see him often examining a female patient in the presence of 10 unrelated spectators. In the ward, I see him doing an ascitic tap. He draws fluid from the abdomen without putting screens around to ensure privacy. Another common gaffe is entering the private cabin of a patient without knocking. He fails to announce himself or ask, ‘Please, may I come in?’.
ETIQUETTE MATTERS
Etiquette may not decide life and death. However, it determines whether the patient feels comfortable. It also ensures the patient is cared for and treated with dignity.
It also determines whether he would like to come back for regular follow-up. Alternatively, he might choose to go to another doctor.
Doctor’s etiquette requires punctuality. He must be dressed appropriately. He should also be well mannered with his patients. A medical doctor learns these traits partly from the environment at home and culture. They also come from the grooming received by teachers and from emotional intelligence.
Medical training in many countries has focussed too strongly on information gathering, subject knowledge, and skills, while neglecting the three vital “human” aspects : communication, empathy and etiquette, from the curriculum.
It is hardly surprising then that many patients are dissatisfied with their care-givers.
(Dr Naresh Purohit is Executive Member for Indian Medical Academy for Preventive Health. The views and opinion expressed in this article are those of the author)