Medical students at the University of Pittsburgh are learning to not talk like doctors.
For the past year and a half, staff members of the Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council in East Liberty have taught third- and fourth-year students how to speak to patients who can barely read or write. All of Pitt's medical students are required to take eight lessons in their third or fourth year.
"If patients don't understand what's happening with them and do not have enough information to help themselves make a decision, they usually just accept what the doctor recommends and sign the consent without knowing what they are signing," said Dr. Yaqin Xia, coordinator of predoctoral programs at Pitt.
Nationwide, one in five Americans is functionally illiterate. That is, he or she reads at or below the fifth-grade level.
As a result, the patient may have trouble reading medicine labels or filling out medical forms and is less likely to take medicine properly or get routine exams such as mammograms, said Rebecca Carpenter, director of special projects for the council.
Doctors are part of the problem. About 81 percent of the language used in a typical office visit is medical jargon, Carpenter said, citing a Canadian study.
During last week's class in Oakland, she urged her nine students to say "shot" to patients rather than "immunization."
"What's the technical name for the white stuff in your throat?" she asked the class.
"Exudate," replied a student.
"Can you say 'white stuff in your throat' instead of exudate?" she suggested.
If doctors tell patients who are to undergo an endoscopy that a camera will be placed inside them, she said, they might think they will have to swallow one. She recommends doctors tell them they are inserting a very long, thin tube with a tiny camera at the end.
Third-year medical student Chad Purnell said he appreciated the class because he has had patients with whom he has had a hard time communicating because of cultural differences or literacy problems.
"As physicians, we have a responsibility to provide the best care possible to patients," said Purnell, 27, of Hunker in Westmoreland County. "And even if you're the smartest physician on earth and know the most about medicine, if you don't communicate effectively, you're not getting the job done."
