Peer Reviewed
Psychological medicine

Dealing with the irritating patient

Nathan Serry
Abstract
Some down-to-earth thoughts on how to deal with irritating patients.
Key Points
    Remember
    • The medical consultation is just like any other human interaction, and as a result it is to be expected that difficulties will arise at times.
    • The irritating patient, difficult patient, heartsick patient or hated patient can become the bane of our lives as doctors.
    • There is no universal irritating patient. As is often seen in group practice, a particular patient may be difficult for one doctor but not for another. This says much about personality and training differences between doctors.
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