We acknowledge that these skills don’t address social determinants more broadly. But we felt that racism is important enough to call out specifically as a skills focus. As before, we welcome your feedback, ideas, and contributions. Thank you!
Step 1: welcome your patient
What you say:
- “Nice to meet you.”
- “Great to see you again.”
- Not: “You look great” (the patient might not feel great!)
Step 2: ask about your patient’s main concerns for the visit
What you say:
- “What are the important questions you wanted me to answer today?”
- “Is there anything you wanted to ask me about?”
- “Do you have anything to put on our agenda?”
- “Anything else?” (often the most important issue is not first)
Step 3: explain your agenda
What you say:
“There are 2 things I wanted to make sure we talked about…”
Step 4: propose an agenda that combines the patient’s and your concerns
What you say:
“How about if we talk about your question first, then cover my 2 things?”
or
“Given these things, what is most important for you to cover?”
Step 5: be prepared to negotiate.
What you say:
“Ok, i understand that the most important issue for you today is ___.”
“I hear that you have a number of questions. Could we prioritize them so that we cover the most important ones if we don’t have time to get through all of them?”
Step 6: ask for feedback
What you say:
“Do you feel like we’ve covered the agenda? How did we do?”