Introducing Patient Perspectives, a new series written by patients for doctors
Key Takeaways
Dear readers,
Welcome to Patient Perspectives, a new MDLinx series designed to give clinicians an inside view of the patient experience. In these columns, real patients will share their medical journeys from their own point of view—giving practitioners unique insights to help them provide more personalized healthcare.
We hope to broaden clinicians’ horizons by providing first-hand stories and experiences, insights, lessons, and guidance—straight from the hearts and minds of those they treat.
As a clinician, you get a chance to make a real difference and even save people's lives, thanks to exciting medical advancements and evidence-based treatments. Patients come to you for your medical expertise and knowledge, but their voice—and feelings—can get lost in the flurry of diagnostics, treatment protocols, and disease management.
The person visiting you may be fearful and anxious over a diagnosis, frustrated or discouraged by treatment, or feel ill—either from the disease or from treatment side effects. And, they may be facing their own mortality.
How you treat your patients—whether it's allowing them to express their feelings, ask questions, or have an active voice in care decisions—is important for their healing, and can lead to better outcomes.
One patient, a 22-year prostate cancer survivor who is dealing with incontinence and impotence, told MDLinx: "While I'm grateful my cancer is being kept at bay, I wonder if doctors and healthcare teams are sensitive enough to the quality-of life-impacts and emotional issues at hand for prostate cancer patients like me."
We're confident you'll find this column a helpful tool, and we hope these stories will offer you a more holistic picture of the people you strive to help every day.
All the best,
The MDLinx Team
Related: An open letter to my new oncologist: What I want from my doctor