The Middle Path of Empathy

In Buddhism, there is a middle path. Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, was born into a life of indulgence. Later in his life, he practiced extreme asceticism and deprivation. When he sat meditating under the Bodhi tree, he became enlightened, and he found a middle path.

 

Image by Freepik

 

(more…)

Learning Spiritual Truths

Last week I mentioned the first agreement in Don Miguel Ruiz’s book The Four Agreements, be impeccable with your word. Today’s post is about agreement #3, don’t make assumptions.

spa stones isolated on white background

photo by: eplisterra

 

Being a Palliative Care doctor helped me learn to be more direct in my speech. One of the keys to this was to stop making assumptions. I didn’t know if someone would be hurt by something I said. I didn’t know if they would get angry. I learned to ask nonjudgmental, noncharged questions. Genuine curiosity unlocked the door to better communication. (more…)

When Your Client Nods and Smiles

but has no clue what you just said

I recently saw a patient for the first time who was referred to me for evaluation and treatment of chronic hepatitis C. In my urban clinic, this is something that happens quite frequently, at least a few times a week. In general I prefer that the referring physician do only the hepatitis C antibody test and a viral load (level of virus in the blood) to confirm that the patient has gone on to develop chronic infection. In a small percentage, 10-15% of the time, patients will spontaneously clear the infection without treatment, so they will have positive antibody but the virus will not be detected in their blood.

Copyright nito500/123RF Stock Photo

Copyright nito500/123RF Stock Photo

In an attempt to be helpful, the referring physician in this case had done a more extensive work up, and the patient was surprised and a bit dismayed to find out she needed more testing. I carefully explained the additional tests that I needed and the ones that would need to be repeated. I needed to make sure the results were recent enough for her insurance to approve the expensive but effective new treatments for hepatitis C. After my explanation, she agreed to do the lab work and the ultrasound of her liver. We scheduled a three-week follow up to review the results. (more…)