Great Doctors Need Social Skills, Too
It seems like a “no brainer”—that some medical schools now require not only stellar academic and clinical performance, but also the ability to communicate. That’s right: “Someone” has determined that doctors need social skills to do their jobs, and it needs to extend beyond a good bedside manner.
According to The New York Times, at America’s newest medical school, Virginia Tech Carillon, the decision-making process includes nine brief “speed-dating” interviews that test candidates’ social skills. These are deemed necessary to navigate a healthcare system in which good communication has become critical, the author said.
A couple of reasons have emerged that underscore the need for evaluating social skills, the story asserted. “The first is a growing catalog of studies that pin the blame for an appalling share of preventable deaths on poor communication among doctors, patients and nurses that often results because some doctors, while technically competent, are socially inept.
“The second and related trend is that medicine is evolving from an individual to a team sport. Solo medical practices are disappearing.”
The plight of disappearing solo medical practices isn’t lost on SignatureMD, where patients expect and receive the highest level of care from their concierge medicine physicians. The continuing evolution of personalized medicine is proof that even if a patient is cared for by an entire team, that team needs a coach. At SignatureMD, a patient can rest assured that someone is indeed at the helm of the next full-court press—that open, excellent communication between physician and patient, and physician and other physicians, remains the highest priority.
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About SignatureMD
SignatureMD is one of the nation’s largest firms providing initial conversion and ongoing support services to concierge medicine physicians. SignatureMD currently partners with over 200 affiliated primary care physicians and specialists across 35 states, and its network is rapidly expanding.