Question

Opening Case Study Beatrice completed her medical assistant education near her hometown rural Wisconsin and, because of better opportunities for employment, moved to Newark, New Jersey, to follow her career goal of becoming a physician assistant. She was hired as an MA in a clinic in a predominantly middle-class, working neighborhood populated primarily by families who are Puerto Rican and African American. While Beatrice was preparing a client for examination, the client said she thought her previous doctor was very "bad." Beatrice was shocked and did not know what to say or do about this statement Stop and Consider 2.1 1. What do you think the client means by the statement "my previous doctor was very bad"? 2. What response would you make?

Answer 1

1. The client might have experienced some issues with the previous doctor. It can be related to her health condition, treatment methods or the behavior of the doctor. The patient may not be convinced b the doctor's ways of treating or behaving with her. Also there can be chances that the doctor was not doing the treatment, according to her ideas or perceptions about the treatment. Only the patient can answer why she said so.

2. When the patient says my previous doctor was very bad, Beatrice can not support or oppose the patient, with this one statement. She can not deny the patient's right to communicate also. So to know clearly why the client said so, Beatrice has to make the conversation with her. She can ask her client, " You thought your previous doctor was bad?" The client may communicate more on such a question.