Patients need doctors. Sometimes they complain about doctors, and often they are grateful to doctors. What they truly want are supportive doctors. We decided to ask our community of patients with chronic conditions what they mean by supportive doctors.
Here are their responses including one who sent in a diagram. We also put their responses into a word cloud generator. Check the infographic at the end.
Who is a supportive doctor?
Rajeev Gupta
- A supportive doctor is both competent and trustworthy.
- She does not treat you as just another ‘case’ but as a human being with your own peculiar insecurities and life situations. (financial, emotional, support system)
- She is a good listener and pays attention to what you tell.
- She encourages two-way communication.
- She is not always prescriptive. She lays out the best treatment options and partners with the patient in deciding the best option especially for managing chronic diseases such as PD with a long-term doctor-patient relationship.
- She is approachable in emergencies.
- She is realistically positive and reassuring.
Angana Barua
As a professional in a hospital and healthcare industry and a warrior myself I would say a supportive doctor for me is a doctor who is a good listener and a communicator.
When you go to a doctor and he patiently listens to you and then gives his advice and tells you each and every detail about the problems.
Motivates you, connects with your concerns.
When a doctor is compassionate the patient heals better and faster.
Shalini Rajan
A supportive doctor means half the battle won
Kriti Sachdev
A doctor who educates the patients. Explains to the patient medical terms/ conditions into layman’s language the medical conditions the patient is going through. Discusses with the patient the markers which are high or low. A good doctor should try to break the myths regarding the diseases, medicines, treatment or otherwise. They should tell the patients in advance about side effects that are likely to happen, warn the patients about alarming signs/ symptoms/ data of reports/ reasons of diseases, options of treatments available.
They should clarify what things to go easy on and which markers need to be taken seriously
Shireen Fatima
For me, a supportive doctor is one who, in addition to all of the above, is willing to listen patiently to me. Most times, doctors are so impatient and time constrained that they skim through your symptoms and might overlook vital indicators. They misdiagnose a patient as depressive without getting to the crux of the issue.
Aakriti Chugh
A good supportive doctor is the one who listens to you patiently, discusses and explain the whole plan of action with you with all the pros and cons.
Motivates you more and more to fight and to keep going on.
Annie
I would like to further add, apart from listening, which is totally diminishing as doctors take in a lot of patients that they give very little time for people like us who have genuine issues but don't look like. When you see them hurrying, we end up forgetting or not saying the full symptoms
Sometimes we are not able to express our symptoms clearly as we don't get words for it so doctors should be aware about our difficulties to ponder, to put us at ease so that they can get us talking and make right diagnosis.
Averee
A supportive doctor is the one who isn't dismissive but empathetic. I've met all kinds including one who put me on anti depressants and dismissed my condition. And I've met the kind ones, who exude warmth and you feel ok about opening up. The supportive doc will never make you feel victimized - or "sick" - rather encourage you to live normally and manage the triggers well. The doctor's role is of a confidence builder too - and be a friend to tell you that all is and will always be well.
Hemalatha Rao
A supportive Doctor is very much necessary and important to lead a peaceful life with such dreaded disease. I'm very very lucky to have one such doctor. He has been and is an amazing doctor. He is my best friend and philosopher. He has been my guiding light pre and post transplant. Now he is even more caring and protective of me. I'm really blessed to have such a doctor. He makes such careful arrangements for my hospital visits. He is available on phone whenever there is emergency. Kudos and thanks to him.
Pramesh Ratnakar
A doctor who is not supportive is very simply not a doctor. She might have the degree, she might be rich and famous, might well be on T.V, giving us all sorts of gyan, but a doctor she is not.
And, for me, doctors can be supportive if only they have thought things through, if their work and their interaction with their patients, is part of a larger value system rooted in :
a) an empathetic understanding of our shared common humanity,
b) a trained understanding of what it means to being housed in the human body,
c) a knife edge determination to ensure that suffering is minimised, if not erased, at the earliest.
d) And finally, the deep humility that will come only if she accepts the fact, and the responsibility that goes with this acceptance : she is not God, but she is the closest we have to whatever we imagine God to be.
PSha
A doctor for me is one who is my well wisher. Apart from medicine, two words of assurance and care is what I seek. I am so glad to be connected to such doctors who listen to me and remember my history even when I see them only once a year. That reassures me that I am in good hands .
It’s not always the medicines which help, it is the small tweak in dosage, the time gap between two pills - the very obsession with detail customised for me as a patient - develops trust and bonding between doctor and patient .
Three cheers for my doctors - my support pillars
Tojo K
A supportive doctor is the one who is available to the patient, when he needs the doctor.
He should be able to understand the difficulties that are experienced by the patient, and should be very supportive of him.
A good doctor should be able to explain the patient about his disease, and should be able to reassure the patient. And should be able to recommend to the patient the latest medicenes
Dr Nuzhat Aziz
Doctors profession is designed to support healing, recovery back to health and maintain health. I have been a caretaker many times for my parents, consulted many doctors as a patient myself. For me, a supportive doctor is one who explains the condition, gives me the best evidence based options, guides and supports the choice.
90 year old female patient
A supportive doctor is your same doctor who supports and cares for you and tells you not to worry and says “will try my best to cure you”
Can refer you to another doctor too who gives you the same support.
Community
