Communication Skills and Doctor Patient Relationship

Having good communication skills is essential for doctors to establish good doctor patient relationship. Not surprisingly, many undergraduate and postgraduate medical education and training programmes have made the attainment of good communication skills a core requirement. With the increase in demand from patients who value doctors who are patient centred (who spend time and listen to them), together with the rise of consumerism in medicine, health service research on doctor patient relationship has become an important area of interest for both medical researchers and administrators alike. In this paper, a brief review will be presented to illustrate and provide some evidence for the importance of effective communication in health care delivery. The recognition of the importance of doctor patient relationship and communication in medicine has particular relevance for primary care physician whose discipline has long focused on the importance of the doctor patient relationship quality health care delivery.