Theater Classes Help Docs' Bedside Manners

"Right now, doctor-patient interactions are often very fact-based," noted Dow. "But there's a lot of emotion and nuance that is also part of that communication, and that is really the art of medicine -- rather than the technical aspect of what doctors do."

"And there's also the idea of being present in the moment with the patient, which is a difficult task," he acknowledged. "As a physician, you're going to be talking to that patient and worried about another patient who's much sicker, and you're going to be getting paged, and worried about all your personal things, work and non-work demands. But doctors need to realize that, and say 'OK, when I'm in front of a patient, I need to belong to that patient and be present with them, and then I can worry about that stuff later.'"

"Because," added Dow, "we know that focusing and understanding the emotion and the viewpoint of the patient leads to all sorts of better things. You get better information, you form stronger relationships, patients are more likely to listen to you -- get the prescriptions filled and engage in follow-up -- and doctors are less likely to get sued. All the things that doctors really want to have happen but generally haven't been good at making happen so far."

Dr. Eric B. Larson, an internist and executive director of the Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle, expressed little surprise with the findings.

"In acting, you learn techniques to manage your emotions and especially the way you display your emotions," he said. "It is a skill, just like anything, that you can be better or worse at. And being good at it helps you do a better job of caring and healing."

"Patients want and expect to have a warm, understanding human relationship with their physician, where a doctor can feel with the patient the patient's experience," Larson added. "This is what it's all about."

More information

For more on bedside manners, visit the American Medical Association.

SOURCES: Alan Dow, M.D., associate director, residency training, and assistant professor, internal medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, Richmond, Va.; Eric B. Larson, M.D., internist and executive director, Group Health Center for Health Studies, Seattle, and past president, Society of General Internal Medicine; August 2007,Journal of General Internal Medicine