Does anyone really like going to the doctor? 

By: Laura Wild
Course: Language in US Society (Ling 1000)
Advisors: Prof. Chase Raymond
TA: Olivia Hirschey
LURA 2020

Whether you’re sick with the flu or just going in for your annual checkup, visiting the doctor can leave you feeling worse walking out than you did walking in. Maybe your questions never get answered, you’re constantly interrupted, or feel as if your doctor doesn’t listen to what you say. While you might think you’re alone in having these disappointing experiences, it actually happens more often than you’d think. Unfortunately, these kinds of interactions continue to cause serious harm to many patients, but linguists and sociologists are proving they may have a cure.

According to a study at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, a quarter of parents felt as if their child’s physicians failed to provide a space that allowed for open communication. This in turn inhibited the parents from voicing their main concerns and asking all of their questions. As a result, 56% of these parents became “grossly uncompliant” and failed to follow through on their child’s suggested medical care (Heritage and Maynard, 2010). In addition, poor physician-patient communication has led to incorrect diagnoses, lack of trust, and worse patient health outcomes. It also contributes to poor patient satisfaction and greater malpractice complaints (Ha and Longnecker, 2010; Stewart, 1995). In fact, the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Ontario says the number one cause of problems they investigate are due to “inadequate communications between MDs and patients or patients’ families” (Stewart, et al., 1999). 

Needless to say, being a great doctor goes far beyond being able to memorize facts about the human body. It requires an extensive understanding of interpersonal skills that lay the groundwork for developing trust, sharing important information, and working as a team to make medical decisions together. Doctors’ training about the human body is rigorous. Imagine having to learn about every bone, muscle, nerve, blood vessel, and cell in a body. Of course, this is important. But what if these programs started to incorporate linguistic training into their curricula to teach doctors the best ways to ask questions, create an open space, and learn how to talk with patients and families about the most difficult of topics. Not only would this help build greater physician-patient relationships, but it could also improve patient health outcomes. 

Linguists have been studying the interactions between physicians and patients for some time, and their studies have developed various techniques that can be included in medical training. For example, studies show that patients prefer doctors to ask open-ended questions such as “Where is your pain?” rather than close-ended statements such as, “I heard your knee hurts”. This gives the patients a greater sense of autonomy to present their problem, which results in the patients providing more information about their symptoms and concerns. Although simple, tiny adjustments such as these can have a profound impact on the physician-patient relationship. 

One of the most challenging aspects of a physician’s job is delivering bad news. Although doctors “receive almost no formal training” in this, they report it to be one of the hardest aspects of their jobs (Del Vento, et al., 2009). However, linguists have found that doctors can use simple methods to better deliver bad news. These include avoiding negations and using affirmations, blunting difficult news by using implicit language, and, most importantly, presenting information in simple, understandable language (Burgers, Beukeboom, and Sparks, 2012; Del Vento, et al., 2009; Wenrich, Curtis, and Shannon, 2001).

As I continue on my journey of becoming a doctor, I envision my practice as one that expands beyond my medical knowledge to prioritize effective communication with my patients. I hope to develop relationships with my patients that create a space of openness, trust, and willingness to work together as a medical team. After all, I want to become a doctor not just because I love science, but more importantly, because I love helping people.