USA Today Feature
USA Today Feature Focuses on University of Chicago Faculty and Students
Dr. William Harper speaks with medical students at
the University of Chicago about better ways of
reading patients. By M. Spencer Green, AP
On March 27th, USA Today ran an article on medical school approaches to addressing the “door knob” phenomenon resulting from doctors’ rushed schedules and patients’ natural reluctance to reveal frightening or embarrassing symptoms until the very last moment. Dr. Will Harper, course director of the clinical skills course sequence for first and second year students, helps Pritzker students to avoid these situations. The article reads: “Often it happens because doctors, including myself, don't do a good job of getting a sense at the beginning of the medical encounter what the needs are of the patient,” said Dr. William Harper, an internist who teaches communication skills to University of Chicago medical students. Harper tells students that one remedy is simply asking patients: “Anything else?”
“Just asking that simple question, whether it be at the beginning or end of the encounter, can be enough to prevent the doorknob phenomenon,” he said.
