Real Communication An Introduction

Listening skills are crucial in medical care situations: doctors must probe patients

for information and also work with teams of other medical professionals whose

expertise and perspectives can be valuable. This listening process is especially

important to older patients, who are more likely to have multiple health issues

and to be juggling a variety of medications. Yet some studies suggest that these

patients forget anywhere from 40 to 80 percent of what they are told almost im-

mediately and misremember up to half of what they do retain (Sagon, 2013). “In

a doctor’s office, a lot of people, especially older people, feel pressure to get out

because they know the doctor is busy and they’re a bit intimidated,” explains one

such patient, seventy-eight-year-old Bill Allen (Klein, 2013).

Patients who don’t listen to their doctors are more likely to misunderstand

their doctors’ advice, which increases the likelihood of complications and hos-

pitalizations. But poor listening skills aren’t limited to patients—doctors are

guilty as well. When doctors don’t listen to their patients, they are more likely to

misdiagnose illnesses. These mistakes are costly: poor communication between

doctors and patients is cited in at least 40 percent of medical malpractice suits

(Landro, 2013).

The field is seeking to change those statistics. Many hospitals, health care

systems, and insurers are requiring doctors to receive special training to improve

their communication skills, providing advice and skill-building exercises to help

them to listen better to their patients and also to teach them to speak in ways that

encourage their patients to listen more effectively (Landro, 2013). Candidates

for admission at many of the nation’s top medical schools (among them Stanford

and UCLA) must demonstrate effective communication skills in a series of short

“mini interviews” that test their interpersonal skills and ability to work with

others under pressure before they can even be accepted. Those who fail to listen

well or who are overly opinionated are considered poor candidates (Harris, 2011).

chapter

Listening

6

How We Listen

The Value of

Listening Well

Listening Challenges

The Ethics of

Listening

Listening in Context

IN THIS CHAPTER

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