A doctor or student's bedside manner is something that develops overtime. I like to think that I have a decent bedside manner most of the time. This is the type of thing where I watch others to see what I can pick up in terms of things I would like to emulate myself and also habits that I hope to not mimic. It is part of the art of medicine and also I believe has a lot to do with one's natural personality. Bedside manner is something that is constantly growing and changing. I am changing as a person, my patients are changing, and so is the situation. The key is learning to try and gauge your patients, the situation, and knowing yourself make yourself be as appropriate, comforting, and compassionate as the situation allows. A doctor has to be adaptable and know when to be a hardass about certain things in order to get across the importance of stopping smoking, for example. It's a hit or miss type of thing and I'm learning as I go along. And let me tell you sometimes it can be funny...
A lesson learned tonight in the ED.
I was checking the function of cranial nerves on a patient. Often times to check the facial nerve (cranial nerve 7) which is in charge of the facial muscles by asking the patient to either smile or show you their teeth.
Here's how the conversation went this evening:
Jen: "show me your teeth"
Patient: "I don't have any"
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