Trog Blog #8: Communication Breakdown

Dr. Tyler Whited PT, DPT, CSCS
Dec 4, 2024
2 min read

Communication breakdown

It's always the same

I'm having a nervous breakdown

Drive me insane

(sick solo from Jimmy Page)

-Led Zeppelin

So what does Led Zeppelin have to do with clinical care? In this instance, a lot more than you would think. But let’s have another random quote plucked from the deep recesses of the internet:

Always remember that it is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be

misunderstood: there will always be some who misunderstand you.

-Karl Popper

I don’t know much about philosophy. But I really love this quote from Popper. I think it is particularly relevant given that medicine is going toward a more bio-psycho-social approach; one that is heavy on communication skills.

Honestly, it puts a lot of pressure on clinicians. In the biomedical/pathoanatomical model providers really just acted like fancy mechanics – “here’s what’s wrong with your machine, this is how much it will cost, I can squeeze you in on Tuesday?”. Of course I am being a little facetious, good communication was imperative before. But more recent evidence in the musculoskeletal world–especially the kind suggesting that tissue damage doesn’t dictate outcomes as clearly as we thought (like prevalence of asymptomatic rotator cuff tears, asymptomatic positive spinal imaging, rates of asymptomatic knee OA)–requires providers to be even more skilled with patient communication.

Clinical pearl? Listen to Karl–you’ll never get it 100% right, 100% of the time. It’s okay to mess up communicating with patients. It’s just part of being human and interacting with other humans; it gets messy.

Just be honest, sincere, and do it in earnest. Eventually you’ll get it right. If you sprinkle in a bit of evidence (which requires reading), practice, and a few of these clinical pearls, you might get it right slightly more often…

And of course, don’t live in caves…