Amy Givler, MD

A friend recently asked me how she could better connect to her children’s doctor. She has three young children and sees their doctor regularly but doesn’t think his temperament fits their family. She’s thinking of changing doctors, but wonders whether she should just try harder to relate to her current one.

I told her I group doctors into two categories — those who want to make all the medical decisions, and those who don’t. Of course there’s a range, and all doctors fall somewhere on the spectrum between seeing themselves as the dispenser of medical wisdom and wanting patients to make their own decisions for their care. I fall squarely in the middle. I see myself and my patients as members of a team. I know some things (knowledge about diseases and medicines, etc.), they know some things (what’s worked for them in the past, what side effects are tolerable, etc.), and together we figure out how to move forward and maximize their health.

My friend’s doctor is far over on the “I’ll make the decisions” scale. He doesn’t explain things well and she gets frustrated. I suspect she’ll be happier with someone who listens more, and seeks out her input into her children’s health.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 at 11:31 pm and is filed under Amy's Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.