Explaining to the Patient A Therapeutic Tool and

Authors: A CARLTON ERNSTENE

Publish Date: 1957/11/01

Volume: 100, Issue: 5, Pages: 687-691

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Abstract

Standard textbooks of medicine supply excellent articles on recognized diseases but with rare exceptions the discussions fail to include one feature of paramount importance No mention is made of the need for explaining to the patient the nature of his problem the mechanism and significance of his symptoms and the course the illness may be expected to follow This omission is unfortunate because with presentday concentration on pathologic physiology in our medical schools the subject also receives little or no attention in clinical teaching As a consequence it may be several years after graduation before a young internist appreciates all that can be accomplished by sufficiently detailed instruction of those under his care There are two principal reasons why an explanation along the lines indicated is indispensable In the first place it is in many illnesses a therapeutic tool of basic importance Secondly it is one of the best available

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