Medical Manners

Megan Gibson-Pediatric Cancer & Celebrating Our Patients Victories With Them

At just six years old, Peter Gibson faced a life-altering cancer diagnosis in the midst of a global pandemic, catapulting his family into a whirlwind of treatments, ER visits, and constant uncertainty. In this heartfelt episode, his mother, Megan Gibson, takes us through their journey — the fears, the triumphs, and the lessons learned along the way. She offers powerful insights on how healthcare providers can forge deeper emotional connections with patients and celebrate their victories, no matter how small. This is a conversation about resilience, compassion, and the profound impact of truly seeing and celebrating those in our care.

Purpose vs Vehicles: What Are You Focusing On?

It can be helpful in our careers to remember what our purpose is. Why do we do what we do? What is the purpose behind all our hard work? Then we can identify the vehicles that help us achieve our purpose. Making sure we are laser focused in on our purpose and don't get side tracked by the vehicles is so important!
This can help as we are wanting to find more joy in our careers, negotiating contracts with employers, and in our personal life. This weeks episode is really for anyone who wants to find more purpose in their lives.

Dr. Scott Abramson and Connecting With Patients When You Aren’t Good At It

Dr. Scott Abramson spent 40 years helping patients as an acclaimed neurologist. The last 20 years of his career he also started working on a project to help physicians in his organization connect with their patients better. He says he would have retired in his early 60's , but he found so much joy in connecting with others, that he continued working until age 72.
Listen to this episode to learn his secrets about finding joy through connecting and loving your job again, even for someone who claims he isn't good at it naturally.

Christine Chasse: Medical Malpractice Attorney and Why Patients Usually Sue (Hint: It’s Not Money)

This episode with Christine was so interesting! Hearing about what she sees on her side and what the situations are that end up in lawsuit. I was surprised to learn that in Texas, because of certain laws, when people enter a medical malpractice suit, it is usually not for money. Listen to hear Christine's take on what really matters and how to avoid medical lawsuit action.

What The Deceuster’s Experience with Testicular Cancer Taught Me About Asking Patients Questions

In this episode, Dan and Michele Deceuster chat with me about their experience with testicular cancer and the amazing things their medical providers did to help them through the process.
Dan also talks about how we can better guide our patients as we are asking them questions.
This podcast episode has changed the way I ask my patients what questions they have for me at the end of our visit. I'm grateful for patients like Dan that can teach me how to do my job better. I'm excited for you to learn from him as well.

What Becca Doutre’s Stroke Can Teach Us About Reading the Room and Carrying the Burden.

At age 28, Becca Doutre started having stroke symptoms when she was 35 weeks pregnant with her 4th child. She tells about her medical journey and gives us some great tips on ways health care providers can read the emotions in the room and act accordingly, be sensitive to patients who become our 'frequent fliers' and help carry the burdens of our patients.
Becca gives shout outs to North Davis Hospital in Layton Utah, University of Utah Health Care System, Primary Children's Hospital and Dr. Carolyn Belfry at the Ogden Clinic.

How Working at a Grocery Store Skyrocketed my Patient Satisfaction Scores

When I was 15 I started working at the grocery store near my home. The lessons I learned from interacting with customers there taught me invaluable lessons that would go on to skyrocket my patient satisfaction scores.

Body Odor is Natural

Today we talk about how to overcome the feeling that you are being unnatural or fake as you try to implement new habits when interacting with patients. It's time to whip out a little 'deodorant' and make ourselves more tolerable to all around us!

3 Secrets to Being a Great Listener

Listening well to our patients is one of the best ways to make them feel cared for. We often gain information that we wouldn't have otherwise. Most post-visit surveys also ask the patient if they felt they were listened to. So becoming better at listening is such an important skill for healthcare providers.
In this episode we talk about 3 simple skills you can implement in any patient encounter to improve your listening:
1. Listen with your eyes & ears using batching
2. Show you are listening to understand
3. A tried-and-true skill you can use to help redirect patients who get off topic easily