Achieving a Balanced Patient-Physician Relationship: A Multi-Perspective Analysis

Despite the many advancements in the field of medicine, the delivery of quality, personalized care for patients is seldom consistently achieved. In a field where excellence of patient care is a focal point, patient dissatisfaction continues to be a paramount symptom of a poor, fragmented patient-physician relationship. What can physicians do to achieve a stronger, balanced relationship with their patients and improve the quality of care they provide? Through a critical examination of the perspectives of physician authors of several texts, including Dr. Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air, Dr. Danielle Ofri’s What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear, Dr. Oliver Sacks’ The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hate and Other Clinical Tales, Dr. Damon Tweedy’s Black Man in a White Coat, and Dr. Ian Williams et al.’s Graphic Medicine Manifesto, this paper discusses, synthesizes, and evaluates such current published insight in order to achieve a balanced, patient-physician relationship. By exploring and critiquing these viewpoints, an overall plan for patient care is proposed; the resulting need for communication and restrained empathy serves as a takeaway in patient care for both current and aspiring healthcare professionals.