Finding a good listener has never really been considered a top goal when choosing a physician. Appropriate levels of experience, expertise, and communication skills, yes, plus connections to the right health care insurance plans and hospital groups. Good time management skills are appreciated, too, since doctors always seem to be in a hurry to get to the next patient…except when they’re due to see you.
I’m old enough to remember doctors, always men, telling you what to do or what medicine to take, with little discussion of options. If there was a discussion, it was one-sided doctor-splaining that left you wishing there was a way to instantly fact-check him on some sort of magical handheld electronic encyclopedia.
The world’s oldest doctor joke is still funny because it’s true. “Doc, it hurts when I do this.” “Well, stop doing that.” A moment in one of the physician profile stories in our Top Doctors section makes me laugh in the same way. Darcy Lei, D.O., recalls dealing with muscle and joint pain as a teenage ballerina-in-training and being told the best treatment was to stop dancing. After years of seeking relief, one day her doctor said to her, Wait a minute. Ballet dancers dance on their toes?
Today, Lei treats dancers and athletes at UC Health’s Department of Neurology & Rehabilitation. “My goal is to be here as someone who understands,” she says, echoing a theme that runs throughout the other Top Doctors interviews. Brain tumor patients wanted the region’s best neurosurgeons to team up across hospital boundaries to treat their unique cases; Mayfield Brain & Spine formed the Brain Tumor Institute. Women who’d given birth via C-section wanted to try a vaginal birth the next time, something a lot of OB/GYNs are hesitant to do; The Christ Hospital is supporting them. Women are tired of hearing “It is what it is” when it comes to menopausal health issues; TriHealth has opened a multi-location menopause clinic. And Cradle Cincinnati has successfully lowered Hamilton County’s chronically poor infant mortality rates by listening to mothers and providing the help they asked for.
Hear, hear!
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