The news that neurosurgeon and CNN correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is being considered for the post of Surgeon General has raised a lot of opinions. Some people want to dismiss Dr. Gupta as a television personality who lacks the policy experience for the post. But others welcome the thought of another high profile Surgeon General, someone the public would know and trust, and who might be able to encourage and enable the public to become active in personal health issues.
The opinions and questions mirror some of the questions that emerge in discussions of interpersonal communication and relationships between physicians and patients. Technical skill is important, but where do the trustworthiness and personality fall? Are patients better off with a highly technically skilled, but gruff physician, or a moderately skilled physician with excellent interpersonal skills? Which doctor will get the better outcomes: the one with technical competence or the one personable enough enable the patient to take better care of their own health? And why do we often find ourselves assuming that physicians cannot be both technically skilled and skilled communicators? There are doctors who are both technical and personable, Dr. Gupta arguably being one of them.
What do you think?
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