Too many health care professionals seem to believe that anyone over the age of 60 is either deaf, senile, stupid or all of the above. Couple that attitude with a habit of interrupting and/or not listening, and you brew poor interaction with the patient, at best, or a medical disaster, at worst. A lack of empathy, patience and understanding is counterproductive.
There may be hope, however. Recent letters to the New York Times from medical students with undergraduate work in literature, as well as from more experienced health care professionals, show that there are at least some in the field who know of the importance of listening to the patient.
If only others in the health care field will listen to their colleagues, we might have a better health care system.
In fact, a general increase in listening and a decrease in interrupting would be a good thing. It's time to rid society of competitive talking.
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