Author: Dr. David S. Wander
Date: 11/11/2005 1:50 pm PDT
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Your point is well taken. In my post I did state that personality admittedly does not make a good surgeon. I do believe that personality certainly plays a role in the overall scheme of the patient-doctor relationship. Althoug ideally, it may not be the best idea for a new patient to be referred to a surgeon based on a friend's referral, realistically it does happen. I do agree with you 100% that there are smooth talkers that have surgical skills that are so poor that I wouldn't let them cut my pet's toenails, and on the other hand there are excellent surgeons that have no compassion or communication skills. I strongly believe that patients have the right to find a surgeon that possesses both the talents of a skilled surgeon and the ability to communicate. Reading your past postings, I would tend to believe that you also subscribe to the idea that patients should be educated regarding his/her condition, treatment options, possible complications, post operative expecations, treatment course, etc. I'm not sure which scenario is worse, a patient that has had surgery by an incompetent doctor that was a "great guy" or a patient that had surgery by an excellent surgeon, but is afraid or intimidated to approach the doctor with his/her post op concerns. I guess ultimately the post operative result is the most important factor, but hopefully there are enough competent surgeons with compassion and communication skills to make up for the doctors that lack one or both of the necessary skills. In my 20 years of practice I've seen far too many patients that have been damaged by MIS surgeons, new fads, incompetent surgeons and doctors that simply cared about the bottom line. |
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