Authentic communication

     "Communication that is delivered from a skilled and authentic self requires that the self be healthy. Unlike other medical skill-sets, with relationship skills, what you are is as important as what you do. This requires much more than the acquisition of a communication competency. It is no mere cosmetic makeover.

     Transformation of the self – whether as an individual or an institution – is far from easy. … Communication is a core clinical skill. … Senior doctors recognize that their deficiencies in this area contribute to high psychological morbidity, emotional burnout, depersonalization, and low personal accomplishments.

     There needs to be a deep appreciation for the role resistance plays in limiting change. Despite awareness of the problems of communication, why is change within the medical profession taking place at such a glacial pace?"

        Bub B. Communication skills that heal. A practical approach to a new professionalism in medicine. Radcliffe Publishing, Oxford, 2006.

ile d'Orleans in the province of Quebec