On teaching patients to begin with the end in mind

Patients consult with symptoms = problems. They are often in search of solutions that remove the causes without due regard for what is possible.

 

 

Patients fail to consider that a determination of cause is not always possible and that knowing cause does not necessarily mean effective correction and that even effective treatments are not guaranteed effective in their specific circumstances. And there are always trade-offs, side-effects, costs. These have to be balanced against the anticipated benefits.

 

 

Ironically, in an age when healthcare providers are more effective than ever, patients trust their caregivers less than ever. Expectations are to a large extent misinformed. The essential question given this mismatch is who is responsible for educating patients?

 

 

I do not consider it my responsibility to teach the general public how to think. I have enough difficulty persuading my colleagues that their thinking is a skill that can be improved.