Treating Patients Like Magicians Do - Doctors Could Learn A Lot

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Also Included In: Public Health;  Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 14 Oct 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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Doctors could learn a lot about how to treat and interact with their patients by employing techniques used by magicians, says an article in this month's Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Author Daniel Sokol, a lecturer in medical ethics and law and a close-up magician, draws comparisons with how a magician interacts with a spectator and how a doctor interacts with patients. He describes how "both groups deal with people, often in an intimate and intense context, and strive to effect a positive change in their audience. They rely heavily on trust, fairness and clear communication for their success." However, although both medics and magicians may use deception in their work, the magician has a harder time because, unlike the doctor, they work in an atmosphere of mistrust.

The author illustrates that, like a magician, "a doctor who wishes to influence a patient's decision can use similar techniques to indicate approval or disapproval." Desirable traits or techniques that a doctor could benefit from include; being clear and precise when presenting information, having likeable characteristics to reduce suspicion and build trust, and using different tones of voice or body language to convey different messages.

Dr Kamran Abbasi, Editor of the Journal, comments "Doctors and magicians, medicine and magic, were all once the same. A talented magician will leave you aghast at the sleight of hand, but a talented doctor might persuade you to consent to an operation or a change of lifestyle."

The authors made a total of 657 calls (at their own cost) over a one month period and at three specific timeslots on different days. The data measured answering times provided by human operators and answering services, and consistency of response.

"Medicine as performance: what can magicians teach doctors?" by Daniel K Sokol is published in the latest issue of the JRSM.

The JRSM is the flagship journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. It has full editorial independence of the RSM. It has been published continuously since 1809.

Its Editor is Dr Kamran Abbasi.

About The Royal Society of Medicine

The Royal Society of Medicine is an independent, apolitical organisation, founded over 200 years ago.

We are one of the largest providers of continuing medical education in the UK.

We provide accredited courses for continuing professional development, which is so vital in allowing doctors, dentists, veterinary surgeons and other healthcare professionals their continuing freedom to practise.

Our aims are:

-- to provide a broad range of educational activities and opportunities for doctors, dentists and veterinary surgeons, including students of these disciplines, and for allied healthcare professionals.

-- to promote an exchange of information and ideas on the science, practice and organisation of medicine, both within the health professions and with responsible and informed public opinion.

We receive no state funding to carry out our core work and are dependent on generous donations and legacies.

http://www.rsm.ac.uk