What is it about?

This study looks at how Chinese patients present their main health problems during medical visits. Through analyzing 132 natural medical consultations in China, the researchers found that doctors verbally ask about patients' primary concerns in only about half of the cases. In contrast, in Western medical consultations, doctors rarely skip this step. In China, there are four common situations where patients bring up their problems without the doctor asking first. This shows that when Chinese doctors are ready to start the consultation, patients feel okay to talk about their problems right away. In the West, patients usually wait for the doctor to ask. The study also looks into why there's a difference between the Chinese and Western models.

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Why is it important?

This research presents a new picture of structural organization of medical openings, which is noticeably different from the well-observed Western pattern. It helps us better understand how medical consultations are structured differently in specific cultures. It makes us think differently about the power doctors have during medical consultations, depending on the type of medical activity. Also, it shows that medical consultations can be more similar to service encounters than we thought.

Perspectives

I've always been fascinated by the cultural differences in doctor-patient interaction. These differences are not only intriguing but also have a significant impact on the effectiveness of medical consultations. After delving into this topic, I truly hope that my research findings can offer valuable insights and assistance to readers who share a similar interest. Whether it's understanding how different cultures approach problem presentation or the varying power dynamics between doctors and patients, I believe there's much to learn.

Dr. Zi Yang
University of Science and Technology Beijing

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Chinese patients’ unsolicited presentation of primary concerns, Pragmatics and Society, December 2023, John Benjamins,
DOI: 10.1075/ps.20063.yan.
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