by Faalik Zahra

​

For decades, patients were very aware of the bedside manner of their doctors. Many patients would use bedside manner as the criteria of choosing one doctor over another. It was important to patients and expected. Some say, that new physicians have abandoned that approach and critics of medical education believe that today's medical students should be taught the basics of good patient relations as part of their medical education. And so, today, most medical schools are including formal classes where medical students are learning how to be a more compassionate doctor. Along with these courses, professors at schools across the country are emphasizing the importance of proper patient-provider interactions. They are ultimately aiding medical students in acquiring a compassionate bedside manner.

 

According to Merriam-Webster, bedside manner is “the manner that a physician assumes toward patients.” It assists in easing a patient and providing them with comfort. According to Ross University School of Medicine, “developing a great doctor bedside manner is vitally important to foster trust with patients, create rapport, and maintain a positive patient experience.”

​

How Does a Medical Student Learn Bedside Manner

Bedside manner can be acquired through continuous clinical experience and paying close attention to patient-provider interactions. According to St. George’s University, “medical students can also begin to develop good bedside manner through school simulations using high fidelity human patient manikins or standardized patients.” These programs allow students to further their skills and understand how they can be increasingly helpful without jeopardizing a patient’s experience. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) further explains, “medical schools have started to offer courses on compassion and caring. Some even use virtual reality to put students in their patients’ shoes.

​

The Tools of a Good Bedside Manner

Students also learn specific behaviors that convey empathy —

• to sit beside a patient instead of standing over them

• to pay attention to one’s tone of voice

• to avoid medical jargon

• to talk less and listen

• to patiently answer every question of the patient

• to take complaints about support staff and the hospital or office protocols seriously

• to show true compassion for the challenges and concerns of the patient

 

Students then can better assess how they feel they will be to assuage a patient’s discomfort. They learn various techniques and mannerisms that will aid them in this process. With these new courses and the focus on patient-centered medicine taught and mentored by the medical school professors and the residency supervisors, future doctors will hopefully learn these tools to relate better to their patients, making the provider/patient relationship a good one.