Transforming the Doctor-Patient Relationship
As the doctor-patient relationship continues to evolve, there is a need to refresh the approach regarding this dynamic connection. Transforming the Doctor-Patient Relationship was piloted at the Michigan State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2010, and integrates the arts through storytelling and non-verbal exercises, inviting the participants to explore their individual, creative expression. Participants are introduced to new concepts, strategies, and techniques to more fully explore their patients’ personal histories and to engage the whole person while recalibrating the doctor-patient paradigm. Additionally, participants are invited to consider the ways in which their own empathic capacities inform their relationship with their patient.
At the heart of this program is the desire to foster a heightened sense of humanity in the medical system through the power of nonverbal communication and to learn about the patient beyond their medical chart. The goal of the workshop is to suggest new possibilities for deepening the relationship between physicians and their patients, while relieving some of the emotional stresses of practicing medicine in contemporary society.
