Communication and relationships in medicine:
New perspectives for medical “etiquette”
International Congress
Auditorium of the “A. Gemelli” Faculty of Medicine and Surgery in Rome
16-17 February 2007
Today the world of medicine involves complex relationships. The proliferation of super specializations necessitates continuous collaboration and exchange between disciplines. Information systems have become so advanced and telecommunications so rapid that the dissemination of scientific progress and its possible clinical application take place in real-time almost all over the world.
This has expanded the scope of communication, health information and health management. On the one hand, they permit a growing number of people to benefit from technological and therapeutic progress, while on the other they can also generate impossible expectations. Such high expectations inevitably lead doctor and patient to encounter failure. It is therefore essential that authentic relationships underpin communication.
These relationships take place among people involved either in the direct care of the patient, or as team members. For instance, they may be on the frontline of the research field or people dedicated to the organisational aspects of health facilities. More obvious still, they may be people who personally face and live with illness.
Moreover, in medicine, relationships acquire a very particular value. Suffering, disease and death, challenge the very meaning of life, and demand answers that are not readily available.
Today, more than ever, doctors need to learn the “art of building relationships”.
The Congress aims at presenting the results of international projects carried out in different medical fields. It seeks to outline strategies and describe a culture that promotes education in forming relationships that go beyond respect and foster brotherhood. |
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Congress 2007
