CMU School of Drama


Saturday, September 08, 2007

Theater Classes Help Docs' Bedside Manners

MSN Health & Fitness: "New evidence suggests that a bit of theatrics can help doctors become better caregivers."

10 comments:

Michael 'Rico' Cohen said...

I could not agree more with these body langauge ideas. They obviously transfer over to production & stage management too. The most notable example of this is in a production meeting. If the PM is standing, they have power over the room, and their standing is visually supporting their control. If the PM is sitting, they may have a harder time controlling the pace of the meeting.

D Holcomb said...

This ties in to a discussion of “empathy” as being one of the six “senses” needed for the burgeoning conceptual age, in Daniel Pink's book A Whole New Mind

We'll be reading from that book this semester in PM Workshop.

Anonymous said...

Agreed. And it isn't about transforming doctors into actors, but more subtly doctors into humans. Teaching them to interact on a level that leaves room for enough compassion that a sense of trust and understanding can actually be built. So many times, just not making eye contact can raise levels of stress along with other uncomfortable feelings. What is worse than a doctor who delivers every bit of news to the wall behind you, or the floor below.

Anonymous said...

iIt's interesting to see how some people think that theatre doesn't have anything to do with other careers or areas of life. When in fact a theatrical education (from a Designer/PTM point of view) is the most liberal education out there. You have to have an understanding of everything that has happened and is happening in the world, history, art, language, politics, etc. All of these feed the work we do, and gives us a greater understanding of life.

Anonymous said...

this was an article that i sent immediatly to my dad. he is a doctor who i know stuggles with all of these issues. the section about staying in the moment is a great example of how the training can transfer over professions. i think that this also applies to anyone who is in a profession where they are in a position of power and have many distractions and other obligations.

Anonymous said...

This article was really interesting to me. Especially since both of my parents are medical caregivers. Many people would believe that theatre is the farthest thing from medicine. But in fact they share some of those basic communication skills which universally affect 90% of careers. As far as Designers and Technicians go, I agree with everyone, it is how a designer talks about his/her ideas and interact with other members of the technical team that defines their relationship with people in the industry and ultimately their next job.

Anonymous said...

My moms a nurse and she often talks about the doctors lack of bedside manner. I think that doctors can be so trained to act clinically, that they often forget that they are working on people who are scared and are looking to them for support and assurance.

Anonymous said...

This seems like a really good idea. Some things just come naturally to some people, but if you don't have a good bedside manner as a doctor, eye contact, ect. then it could really injure your practice. It's difficult to trust a doctor who doesn't talk directly to you, or is rude without meaning to be, or just seems to not care about you in general. Acting lessons, in many capacities, can apply to everyone's profession and personal life, and if you haven't had any of that sort of training, it can damage something you may be trying to build.

Anonymous said...

I think this is a great idea. Communication skills are very important for almost every career. I have also gone to doctors who have been in a a bad mood and it makes it a lot harder to talk to them. Doctors should be personal and should seem eager and interested in what you have to say that way the patient and the doctor can talk about things and be honest. I don't think I would want to talk to or go to a doctor who isn't capable of having a good conversation with.

AShotInTheArm said...

In my opinion, doctors have a tendency to be unclear or indecisive in their interactions with patients. However when their opinions are presented clear and emotionally, we as patients are able to communicate much more cooperatively. After all, when I view theatre, I tend to enjoy the pieces that bring their ideas forth with clarity and emotion. No one truly reacts well when they put their life in someone's hand and that person is unconfident.