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Product Summary
The Intelligent Patient's Guide to the Doctor-Patient Relationship : Learning How to Talk So Your Doctor Will Listen by Barbara M. Korsch and Caroline Harding

The Intelligent Patient's Guide to the Doctor-Patient Relationship
Guide Rating -  
Pros  •  Possibly the best book written on doctor-patient communication.
•  Real-life examples drive home the key points.
•  Receptive patients stand to gain significant insights.
Cons  •  It takes two to tango.
•  Ignores growing problem of willful miscommunication.
•  Patients who most need help won't read this.
The Bottom Line - This book analyzes every aspect of your interactions with your doctor – all aimed at improving communications so that you get the care you really need. Could be subtitled, “The Proper Care and Feeding of Your Physician.”

 
Product Description
•  A book on communicating effectively with your doctors.
•  Uses hundreds of examples from real doctor-patient interactions.
•  Offers important insights to any reasonably receptive patient.
 
 
Guide Review
The Intelligent Patient's Guide to the Doctor-Patient Relationship : Learning How to Talk So Your Doctor Will Listen
This is a book about communication, a particular kind of communication that can mean the difference between life and death - your communication with your doctors.  Dr. Korsch (a medical professor and chairman of the council of the Bayer Institute for Health Communication) has spent years analyzing why doctors and patients so commonly misunderstand one another.  This book is filled with examples of "what they said vs. what they really meant." The authors get into the heads of both doctors and patients to show why communication fails so often, and gives clear and practical advice on how patients can convey what they mean, and hear what the doctor is trying to say.  The final chapters give advice on how to communicate clearly during specific medical episodes, such as when you're in the emergency room, in the doctor's waiting room, or when your child is sick.  Anyone who is open-minded, introspective and reasonably analytical would find this book a great help.  It seems clear that some of the patients and doctors who serve as examples in this book, however, do not fit this profile.
    
 Related Reviews    Related Resources
• Surviving Modern Medicine
• Managing Your Health Care
• Patient Empowerment Books
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