Clear and unambiguous

I had an appointment with a medical specialist recently. I really like this specialist because she is so proactive — she gets on with things.

But, when it comes to giving advice she is not always as clear as she should be.

“In the morning use this, plus or minus that. In the afternoons use this plus or minus this other thing.”

When I heard her advice I asked her what to look for in order to decide whether to use the optional items. With this prompting she finally gave me some clear criteria.

At the same appointment she also suggested a new treatment that I “might want to think about”. I had to clarify:

“Why would I want to do this treatment? Why would I not want to do this treatment?”

Confusion is the enemy of good communication

When you give advice or instructions to your patients how clear are you?

• Do they know the pros and cons of each treatment option you mention?

• Are they crystal clear on what follow up they need to do?

• Do they know what problems to look for, if anything?

A common mistake

As an example I’ll give you one mistake I hear dentists often make. After an extraction many dentists say to patients something like:

“Bite on this pack for 15 to 30 minutes.”

This is ambiguous.

Is it 15 minutes? Is it 30 minutes? How can the patient tell which one is better?

It would be so much nicer if you gave clear and unambiguous instructions.