Presentation ceremony of the second edition of the ‘Doctor-Patient Relationship Manual’.
The The relationship between doctor and patient is the heart of the medical profession. Its essence is captured in the second edition of the ‘Doctor-Patient Relationship Manual’, presented at the headquarters of the Royal National Academy of Medicine this Wednesday. A work that proposes a journey through the conversation between the healthcare worker and the patient and how recent events have affected them. A journey with years of history. “This is a project of great magnitude,” highlighted the president of the entity, Eduardo Díaz-Rubio.
The volume, created under the framework of the Medical Forum -alliance in which the Collegiate Medical Organizationthe Conference of Deans of Medical Faculties, the State Confederation of Medical Unions or the State Council of Medical Students -, starts from a premise: the treatment between doctor and patient defines the profession. “This relationship is as old as the beginnings of humanity,” said the project coordinator, Patricio Martínez. “A reality that must be based on friendship and agreement,” he added.
This form of communication that leads to the improvement of the patient’s health status and for Martínez It should be considered Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.whose candidacy the rapporteur defends. An entity that, unlike dance or popular music, is alive. It never stops evolving. And it is that it walks at the same time as society advances. “It is widely subject to social changes,” he noted.
The Covid effect on the doctor-patient relationship
Between the 19th and 20th centuries, communication between health center attendees and physicians underwent its greatest changes. It stopped being vertical to be horizontalsupported by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the Patient’s Bill of Rights. “The person who comes to our services was definitively at the center of the conversation,” Martínez stressed. The paternalistic model, classic for decades in the doctor-patient conversation, was abandoned.
The whirlwind of changes has not stopped today. A turning point was the coronavirus pandemic. The Covid-19 era limited the relationship between doctors and patients, affected by barriers such as PPE and masks. Also due to the overwork of professionals. “The overload experienced at that moment was a before and after,” revealed the representative of the authors of the work, Miguel Ángel García. From that time came the rise of telemedicine and other technologies to facilitate contact, but also exhaustion. “The doctor began to appear vulnerable,” he added. And your daily routine also takes a toll on your physical and mental state.
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“We have to learn to know the patient, know what their concerns are” |
Precisely, the overload of patients experienced with the coronavirus and that continues today due to causes such as the lack of professionals must be a starting point to modify the strategies of Medicine to approach the patient. From there, the need to change clinical interviewsto gain speed and avoid doctor exhaustion. A process in which gender issues or the emotional component must be incorporated into them. “We have to learn to know the patient, know what their concerns are,” said the author of the manual, Juan Carlos Hernández.
Technology can cool the conversation
The Latest innovations in the sector also mark the future of the doctor-patient relationship. The interpretation of the effects of technology constitutes one of the new chapters of the manual on this binomial. Sometimes positive, by facilitating the relocation of the place and time of the conversation, but also negative, such as the cooling of contact. “We must be careful with computers supplanting us,” said the president of the Asisa Foundation, Francisco Ivorra.
In this sense, Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands out among the rest of the tools. None of the speakers has rated this instrument negatively.as it helps resolve excess patients by performing certain tasks. However, they have warned that This tool cannot be the axis of dealing with patients. And this can cause the automation of consultations and a lack of empathy among doctors, who are more focused on the diagnostic results that technology offers them than on coming into contact with the individual in front of them. “We must not forget that the key to our profession is talking to patients,” said the president of the Medical Forum and the Collegiate Medical Organization (OMC), Tomás Cobo.
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“We have to be careful that computers impersonate us” |
Without a doubt, the doctor has to do his part so that the bond with the patient continues over the years. But, as in any relationship, its maintenance depends on two. “Society also has to promote this relationship. In addition, doctors must have the necessary resources to maintain fluidity in the conversation with patients,” García stated. An order for the medical profession to continue with the beautification of a historical and almost heritage element.
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