October 21, 2020 | 3 min read Show Me By Jared Rubenstein, MD, Baylor College of Medicine Asking patients to share photos and videos can give clinicians a deeper understanding of their lives. This may allow us to give better person-centered care.
January 3, 2024 | 4 min read Make a good stack By Kyle Glienke, MD, Buena Vista Regional Medical Center, Iowa Like baling hay, connecting with patients on a personal level requires intentionality and consistency.
November 7, 2023 | 3 min read Speaking Our Patients’ Language By Abbey Becker, LMSW, Johns Hopkins Medicine Clinicians must meet patients where they are. Determining their health literacy levels is a critical part of care that sometimes gets overlooked.
June 28, 2023 | 3 min read Dad’s End-of-Life Lessons By Eric Last, DO, Northwell Health, Wantagh, New York As my father was dying, it became clear that he had many misconceptions. This reminded me of how important it is to explore each patient’s understanding of palliative care and hospice.
September 30, 2021 | 1 min read The Cancer is Back By Anonymous Physician, Johns Hopkins Medicine I recently lost a young patient to cancer. I was reminded that even when we cannot cure our patient’s illness, we can always show empathy and compassion.
May 23, 2023 | 3 min read “Both And” By Jennifer Lycette, MD, rural oncologist in the Pacific Northwest As the only oncologist in a small rural town, I must often care for patients who are also my friends.
January 11, 2022 | 1 min read How to Share Disappointing News By Simone Lescott, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine When sharing bad news with patients, acknowledge their response and validate their emotions. Allow for time to address concerns and answer questions.
May 9, 2023 | 3 min read Interpreting Patients’ Goals By Adela Wu, MD, Stanford Medicine While caring for a patient who spoke a different language than I, the medical interpreter translated more than words. She also explained cultural differences that proved invaluable.
January 10, 2022 | 2 min read Being Present During The Dying Process By Shireen Heidari, MD, Stanford University It’s the job of all clinicians to guide patients and their loved ones through the experience of death. Offering support and being present can help them navigate the end of life.
May 20, 2021 | 2 min read Alleviating Your Patients’ Worries By April Sharp, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine During hospitalizations, patients and families have lots of time to worry. Asking about the concerns and empathizing may be especially helpful.
May 18, 2022 | 3 min read A Matter of Interpretation By Kathleen Page, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Practice, preparation, and intentionality are essential to mastering medical skills, including how to communicate effectively with an interpreter.
April 27, 2023 | 1 min read Love Lessons By Jennifer Plotkin, MD, Los Angeles VA I was afraid to connect on a deep level with my patients, concerned that my heart would overpower my head. Such relationships are what make practicing medicine meaningful.
March 27, 2023 | 10 min read Ever forward: caring for patients who are transgender and gender-expansive By Paula Neira, JD, MSN, RN, CEN, FAAN, Johns Hopkins Medicine Treat all patients with dignity and respect and ask how they’d like to be addressed.
April 29, 2024 | 3 min read A patient’s reflection on connecting with clinicians—what matters most By Jennifer Ball, BSJ, MA, Chicago, IL Empathy and cultural competence are cornerstones of excellent patient care. Prioritizing these values can help each patient feel respected, empowered, and supported.
September 28, 2022 | 1 min read The Fist Bump By Avani Prabhakar, MBBS, MPH, Johns Hopkins Medicine My patient and her family showed me how to celebrate and enjoy each moment, even in the face of a terminal diagnosis.
September 28, 2020 | 2 min read Practicing the Art of Listening By Jeffrey Millstein, MD, Penn Medicine Listening is essential for humanistic patient care. Listening without interrupting may strengthen the patient-clinician relationship.
August 27, 2019 | 3 min read Letting the Laughter In By Michelle Gyenes, MS, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health Excellent clinicians know that laughter can be a powerful tool in enhancing communication and building trust, particularly when working with older patients.
June 9, 2021 | 2 min read How to Support Patients When Transitioning Back to “Normal” By Laura Hanyok, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine As we move through phases of the pandemic, understanding patients’ goals and asking about their worries is paramount.
December 7, 2022 | 4 min read The Road to Aequanimitas By Wes Ely, MD, MPH, Vanderbilt University Medical Center My medical training in the 80s and 90s taught me to be reserved and distant from patients. After many years in practice, I now know that they deserve a personal relationship with their doctor.
January 24, 2024 | 2 min read Grief in the season of joy By Eric Last, DO, Northwell Health, Wantagh, New York After the holidays, I think back on patients who passed in December, an especially hard time to lose a loved one. At this time of year, I make an extra effort to help loved ones process their feelings.
May 18, 2021 | 2 min read A Question That Transformed my Care of Patients By Rebekah Fenton, MD, Northwestern University Asking patients, “What are you most worried about?” can bring to light unspoken concerns and allow fears to be addressed.
December 15, 2021 | 1 min read The Power of Humor By Jennifer Eitingon, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine My dying patient taught me that laughter can sometimes normalize difficult situations. Finding humor in the problem lightened the mood and allowed us to devise a care plan that preserved her dignity.
October 22, 2024 | 4 min read Note to self: “Sit down and shut up” By William Ravekes, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Sitting down demonstrates presence and creates a sense of equality in the interaction. Together with active listening and avoiding interruptions, this fosters trust and rapport.
January 13, 2020 | 4 min read You are my Sunshine By Lingsheng Li, MD, MHS, University of California, San Franscisco The clinically excellent clinician understands that what we say and do may matter more than what we know.
November 21, 2022 | 3 min read The Angry Daughter By Bill Bachman, MD, Albany Medical College When working with patients or loved ones who are confrontational, recognize your own feelings, try to understand theirs, and know when to ask for help from colleagues.
August 14, 2019 | 3 min read What Physics Taught me About Patient Stories By Jeffrey Millstein, MD, Penn Medicine As in physics, the answers are usually in plain sight. Listening to our patients with curiosity and humility will usually lead to understanding.
December 21, 2020 | 3 min read Lessons From a Kitten By Shara Nauth, MD, Western University, Ontario, Canada Pets can prompt reflection about what it means to be human. This may strengthen our connections with patients and improve care.
July 10, 2023 | 3 min read Dying With Peace And Joy By Lillie Shockney, RN, MS, Johns Hopkins Medicine Empowering your patient to be the ultimate decision maker about all things related to the end of their life is fulfilling and meaningful for both of you.
November 1, 2021 | 1 min read “Routine Visits” By Eliana Perrin, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins Medicine Taking the time to explicitly welcome new patients to your clinic may help them feel comfortable. This can dramatically influence their experience.
June 29, 2023 | 1 min read Practicing Cultural Humility By Sherifatu Abu, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins Medicine When caring for patients with whom you don’t share the same cultural background, open-ended questions may help disclose their goals-of-care.
January 12, 2023 | 1 min read Pain Talk By Will Frye, PhD, Johns Hopkins All Childrens, St. Petersburg, Florida Chronic pain is sometimes a challenging topic to discuss with patients. I’ve learned that the most important thing is to validate my patients’ experience of suffering.
October 2, 2023 | 4 min read Exclamation Points And Exhalations By Ajibike Lapite, MD, MPHTM, Texas Childrens Hospital Even when lab results are normal, some patients may still have concerns. Take time to address their fears and worries.
March 27, 2024 | 1 min read Deepening connections: takeaways from David Brooks’ “How to Know a Person” By Gretchen Miller, Managing Editor Healthcare professionals can enhance their connections with patients and coworkers by truly understanding others. Looking beyond the surface, cultivating empathy, and mastering the art of paying attention can help clinicians build deeper relationships.
October 3, 2019 | 4 min read The Fault in our EHRs By Jeffrey Millstein, MD, Penn Medicine The clinically excellent clinician makes an effort to know each patient’s unique story, moving beyond the confines of the content within the EHR.
May 11, 2023 | 1 min read Life is a Rollercoaster By Lucia Ponor, MD, MBA, Johns Hopkins Medicine When my patient told me about how chemotherapy was affecting his family, I realized that sometimes we need to set aside medical facts and just listen.
September 14, 2021 | 3 min read The Healing Power of Music By Brian Garibaldi, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Connecting with a patient around a shared interest can be mutually fulfilling. For me, my guitar helps me to be present and give excellent care to patients.
May 10, 2023 | 1 min read Coming Back Later By Tetsuyuki Kawai, medical student, Texas Tech I learned from my patient with terminal lung cancer that it’s often helpful to give time to process bad news before making a medical plan together.
May 12, 2022 | 2 min read The “Uninterested” Mom Who Wept By Precious Ndukwe, MD, Howard University When caring for an overweight infant as a medical student, I wrongly assumed the mother was overfeeding the baby. This experience will remind me in the future to leave my suppositions at the door.
January 18, 2024 | 1 min read “Please pray for me” By Youngjee Choi, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine When my longtime patient with chronic illness asked me to pray for her, I told her I would. Whether prayer is something one can offer, responding to emotional and spiritual requests can be an important part of care.
June 6, 2024 | 2 min read Attention please By Carol Vidal, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins Medicine To connect more meaningfully, clinicians need to be more interesting than a young person’s phone. Finding creative ways to engage these patients will improve the relationship.
March 20, 2023 | 5 min read Lazy gardening By Ken Koon Wong, MD, Cleveland Clinic, Naomi Tyree, MD, Summa Health, Ohio Talking about shared interests, such as gardening, is a wonderful way to deepen relationships with patients.
The Baltimore Museum of Art. Wikipedia.org. Photograph by Eli Pousson, 2018 March 25. April 7, 2020 | 3 min read The Personal Responses Tour in Medical Education By Howard Chang, Medical Student, Johns Hopkins Medicine Arts-based medical education improves fundamental clinical skills, including ambiguity tolerance, reflective ability, bias awareness, and empathy. It can also enhance the well-being of healthcare professionals.
November 11, 2022 | 2 min read Is that so? By Sarah Radtke, PhD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Patients and families may share experiences that we feel are inaccurate, improbable, or impossible. Discussing their statements nonjudgmentally helps to form trusting relationships.
August 5, 2020 | 2 min read Discomfort as Your Internal Compass By Preetha Hebbar, MPH, medical student, Medical University of South Carolina There are situations that can make us feel uncomfortable when caring for patients. Acknowledging these feelings may result in deeper and more meaningful relationships with patients.
March 2, 2023 | 2 min read Meaningful Chords By Ben Roberts, CRNP, AGACNP-BC, ACHPN, Johns Hopkins Medicine When my patient’s wife brought his guitar to the hospital, I realized it’s impossible to overestimate the impact of reuniting patients with what matters most to them. Do what you can to make this happen.
October 20, 2022 | 2 min read How I Comfort Patients By Joanne Shay, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine We are sometimes unable to cure our patients. We can still make them feel heard and understood, and consider what it might be like to walk in their shoes.
October 19, 2022 | 2 min read Do Not Miss By Matthew McEvoy, MD, Houston, Texas While volunteering in a chaplain’s office as an undergrad, I learned that patients can gain strength from many sources. As a clinician, I ask all patients, “How can we support your spirituality within the healthcare system?”
November 6, 2023 | 2 min read Believing Patients By Chloe Lee, MD, MPH, University of Rochester When patients share their traumatic experiences, trust that they are almost always telling the truth. We must be empathic and compassionate to build therapeutic connections.
February 14, 2023 | 3 min read Caring For Patients by Listening By Shari Lawson, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Treat every patient with respect and address all their concerns.
April 6, 2021 | 2 min read How to Respond to Unexpected Things Your Patient Tells You By Shireen Heidari, MD, Stanford University When a patient shares something that really catches you by surprise, listen closely and ask open-ended questions to fully understand their perspectives.
