Please check my summary

Part 1. Read the newspaper extract and use your own words to summarise it. Your summary should be about 120 words long.(10p)

If you ask most people what makes a good doctor, they will not say someone with sound medical knowledge. The first thing that will spring to mind is a good bedside manner, in other words, good communication skills. But what does a good bedside manner, or communication skills, entail?

From the patient’s point of view, the interaction they have during their consultation with a doctor is very personal and hence emotional, while for doctor it is merely a logical and objective process. And so, the chances of the doctor/patient communication breaking down are high if the doctor is not sufficiently skilled in handing the patient’s emotional needs. A doctor must be able to deal with the full range of a patient’s feelings, showing sympathy and empathy especially when handing difficult situations, like breaking bad news, etc.

Another aspect of the good bedside manner, which is more often than not overlooked, is having the ability to talk to patients using lay language that they understand, while, at the same time, avoiding any hint of condescension, or being patronizing. The inability to do this has a number of effects. When doctors use medical jargon, patients feel that they are trying o hide something. Doctors can also give the impression that they do not know what they are talking about, or even that they do not know the solution to a problem.

It is also essential that the doctor at all times is able to maintain authority. For example, doctors need to deal with some patients' belief that medicine is infallible, i.e. that the doctor has the panacea for every woe! This is certainly no easy task, as most people’s expectations are raised by the daily diet of wondrous developments in medicine.

My summary:

An excellent bedside manner makes a distinguished doctor. A doctor must possess the capability to deal with the full range of a patient's feelings, and show emotion accordingly. Another element making effective communication skills is the doctor's ability to use normal language, as were doctors to fail to do this, patients would think that their physicians are endeavouring to conceal something, or it would show that doctors are unaware of what they are talking about or do not know how to solve a problem. Also, doctors need avoid deigning and being supercilious. And, it is imperative that doctors maintain authority, which is challenging, since the inexorable march in the progress in medicine has raised people's expectations.