Communication Advice for Doctors and Patients in Germany

 

My health adventures in the last year and a bit brought me very often in situations that brought me a deep knowledge of the German medical system and particularly of different ways of communication between patients and doctors and the overall communication of the health system. 

Dr. Yael Adler is not only a medical doctor with a good reputation in Berlin, but also a book author. Her latest book is addressing an impressive amount of serious problems dealing with the communication between doctors and patients, in a very easygoing and empathic way. The audiobook - in the original German language - read by the author only helped to understand the issue and its many possible approaches.

First and foremost it is a book about communication and as before being a patient I used to be a patient, it helped me to improve my knowledge in this respect. Some doctors and nurses I happened to meet were empathic and with a high knowledge of the intimate emotional needs of patients in dramatic medical conditions. Sometimes, the patients themselves put the medical personnel in complicated situations. 

I was really happy with the diversity of the points of views shared in the book by dr. Yael Adler, connecting in the smartest way the patients and the doctors. The set of advices are useful for both. The authenticity of the voice is given by the many examples that were offered in the book, pertaining from the both domains. 

Although there are many chapters that applies particularly to the German system, for instance the aspects related to patients´ rights and the ways in which a medical practice operates or ofering tips and phone numbers of emergency systems that can help getting an appointment sooner than in a couple of months, it has many directions that actually apply to any kind of doctor-patient communication. Among others, it requires the patient to ask the right questions and to better read and display body languages and non-verbal communication in general.   

I was very pleased to listen to this audiobook. It helped me to understand but also to better prepare my medical visits and the interactions with the German medical system in general.