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Residents lack bedside manners

Residency Program Insider, November 1, 2013

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First-year residents displayed five actions associated with “etiquette-based medicine” in only 4% of patient encounters, a recent study found.

According to research published in the October issue of the Journal of Hospital Medicine, residents frequently failed to introduce themselves to patients, explain their role, shake hands, sit down to hold a conversation, or ask open-ended questions.

The findings come from a small study that analyzed 29 first-year residents’ interactions with 732 patients at Johns Hopkins Hospital and the University of Maryland Medical Center in January 2012, HealthLeaders Media reports.

Leonard Feldman, MD, principal author of the study, told HealthLeaders he didn’t think that interns meant to be rude, but overlooked courtesy amidst other concerns about providing patients’ care.

To improve etiquette, it’s important for attending physicians to role model good behaviors, Feldman says.

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