title: Two-way medicine: strategies for improving doctor-patient relationships.
abstract: Patients are unhappy with the way physicians treat them, not so much medically, as personally. If public opinion is correct, recent medical graduates are less able to win the favor of their patients than previous ones. This article outlines a series of practical strategies for improving doctor-patient relationships. Sooner or later, most physicians learn these strategies by role-reversal. Perhaps a discussion of these with physicians in training (and others) will save some time, generate some goodwill, and improve outcomes for patients and physicians alike.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of South Alabama College of Medicine, Mobile 36617.
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: deShazo
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003142:Communication; D005251:Fees, Medical; D006808:Humanism; D006801:Humans; D007697:Kinesics; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations