One can come across some doctors, whose clinics are flocked by scores of patients, while others are not so popular despite having similar, if not more, educational qualifications and academic achievements. One doesn’t need to be an expert in psychology to find the reason behind this.
While some doctors strike instant rapport with patients, warmly welcoming them with a smile, giving a patient hearing to their problems and relieving their stress even before beginning the actual treatment, others frown continuously on the patients.
This highlights the importance of proper ‘attitude’ and ‘communication skills’ among doctors to deal with patients. These personality traits have to be acquired early on and they are best inculcated during college days. Andhra Medical College (AMC) has started personality development classes apart from yoga and meditation to relieve stress, for undergraduate (MBBS) students from this academic year.
“A team from Sri Ramachandra Mission, led by Dr. KMK Rao, urologist and 1956-batch student of AMC, is conducting the meditation, personality development and stress management classes from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Saturdays. Each Saturday of the week is allocated to students of different batches,” Dr. P.V. Sudhakar, Principal of AMC, told The Hindu.
“The classes, to be held all through the year, will include 30 minutes of theory and an equal time for meditation practice as a stress buster. The University of Health Sciences and the Medical Council are also keen on stress management and personality development for undergraduate students. The main objective is to develop right attitude among prospective doctors towards their patients and to improve their communication skills,” Dr. Sudhakar said.
“The theory classes would not be mere lecture sessions, but aim to improve the communication skills through group discussions and by encouraging students to participate in the question and answer sessions. Teachers will act as facilitators and mentors have been appointed to help students overcome their inhibitions,” Dr. Sudhakar said.
“The mentoring system was started in the college in 2017 with the prime objective of helping Telugu medium students to improve their English language. We hold meetings with the mentors once in every two months to review the progress of the participants. The exercise has brought about a noticeable improvement among low performers,” he added.