Hello, all,

I don't think we can rely solely on semantics to define if we have or
haven't established a partnership with our patients. In my private
practice in Montana, I was Dr. Mona and folks were my patients, but
down here, due to me being part of the SCNM it morphed into Dr.
Morstein, although in my own private practice, some folks call me
"Mona" or "Dr. Mona" and it's all the same to me. However, they are
still my "patients". The energy and flow and experience WITH my
patients has never changed although the terminology of my name did.

I don't really believe that patients wish to be fully on an equal
status with their physician. Illness and sickness are scary; people
oftentimes come to us already having been sick for years and having
failed to recover on numerous treatment plans, both allopathic and at
times alternative. I think having a slightly vertical relationship is
invaluable, as they are looking for me to find the obstacle to cure, to
direct them to medical tests, dietary regimens, efficacious
supplementation. Heck, that's what they are paying me for! They WANT
direction; the NEED direction. I myself didn't want a "best friend"
when I sought medical care; I wanted someone who knew what they were
doing, what I needed to do, and directed me to achieve those goals.
Patients need someone confident to know what is going on and tell them
how they can get better. We don't want them to turn over all their
power to us, true, but we need them to trust us enough to do the tests
we suggest, and follow our educated and experienced advice.

The partnership is formed throughout the doctor/patient relationship in
many ways outside of semantics, and whether someone is Dr. Kim or Dr.
Morstein, or you are working with a "partner" or a "patient" shouldn't
matter one tiny bit. The partnership is based on treating patients
with respect; basing a therapeutic regimen particularly on Docere, so
all aspects of it are fully explained to the patient's understanding,
giving them time to ask clarifying questions if necessary; engaging in
compromise with the patient though not to the extent the therapy will
no longer be effective (for example, if a food allergy test comes back
exhibiting leaky gut and the patient is reactive to 40 foods, obviously
it makes no sense to remove to demand the patient remove all those
foods from their diet--can the patient remove the top three, perhaps
while we heal up the gut?); working effectively within the patient's
financial capabilities; understanding their struggles to make change
and supporting them on their journey no matter how fast or slow their
commitment to heal is going; and so forth.

We shouldn't get too caught up in whether we are Dr. First Name or Dr.
Last Name. In my experience, it doesn't matter, except to the doctor.
We should simply ensure we are good doctors, and treat patients with
respect, integrity and compassion, that we act decisively and strive to
have patients follow our knowledgeable directions, but we can
compromise and be supportive. That will ensure the partnership
develops. Semantics is always less important that the actual human
interaction.

Mona Morstein, ND
Mesa, AZ