[ilovetv]

This cancer patient-writer explains it perfectly:

...."So much of being a good doctor, from a patient’s perspective, is not only medical knowledge, which (rightly or wrongly) we typically take for granted, but also the ability to relate to us, to look at us and see if our truths are being expressed.

Trust is essential – after all, the physician is about to cut us open, amputate a body part, radiate us, poison us with chemicals, tell us if we are going to live or die. We need to know that this doctor is a person who will treat us with dignity, who will do the best professional job for us he is capable of. We need to know he takes our concerns and fears seriously. We want him to want us to live.

It’s very hard to gain that kind of information and learn to trust somebody with our well-being and our lives when all we see and hear is the back of a white coat and the click of a mouse."....

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2011/03/...rspective.html