First Do No Harm: The Phenomenological Study of the Lived Experiences of Medical Practitioners in Adapting to Patients' Reaction to the Diagnosis of Disease

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

The great doctor William Osler once said, “The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease.” Healthcare professionals have all had their fair share of stubborn patients. Effective doctor-patient communication is a central clinical function in building a therapeutic doctor-patient relationship, which is the heart and art of medicine. Thus, this study was conducted to determine the lived experiences of medical practitioners while giving a diagnosis to patients.

METHODS

To describe the lived experiences of medical practitioners, qualitative research design and phenomenological method were used in the study. The interview on five participants was conducted to underscore their experiences and how they cope with the challenges as a medical practitioner while giving a diagnosis to patients. The data were coded and analyzed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

The research resulted in two major themes namely, themes for common struggles and themes for common strategies. Chandra (2018) stated that the changing pattern in the doctor-patient relationship is becoming more of a challenge for healthcare providers that makes every physician develop their own strategy to deal with the growing issue. The common struggles of medical practitioners during the deliberation of diagnosis include communication difficulties, adapting to the patient's behavior, physical stress, hectic schedule, and personal problems that include psychological stress. On the other hand, the common strategies used by medical practitioners to cope with the said challenges include transcript review, effective communication, praying, self-assessment, and patience.

DISCUSSIONS

The results indeed proved that all medical practitioners are experiencing a lot of challenges. Majority of these challenges appear during the procedure of giving diagnosis itself. Moreover, it has stated that medical practitioners have their strategies in overcoming those challenges in communication.