NAPCRG

Doctor-Patient Relationship SIG

The doctor-patient relationship is the interface where physicians' clinical knowledge and skill are translated into care of the patient. While there has been a great deal of research published on this interface in the last twenty years, most of it has been segmented by methodology. These methodologies have included strictly quantitative approaches (such as the Roter Interaction Scale), conversation analytic approaches (studies by Tanya Stivers and others), approaches using standardized patients (studies by Ron Epstein and colleagues) and a number of studies using traditional qualitative methods. The metaphor that comes to mind is the old story about the three blind men trying to describe an elephant.

The mission of the new Doctor-patient Relationship SIG is to create a forum for bringing together primary care researchers who use all these different lenses for examining the doctor-patient relationship and to promote collaboration across methodologic boundaries. Hopefully, this cross-fertilization will result in new mixed method study designs, particularly sorely needed longitudinal ones. An organizational meeting and a breakfast table are being planned for this year's NAPCRG meeting in Vancouver. Future plans include a website and listserv. Interested researchers are invited to contact the SIG chair, John Scott, at scottjg@umdnj.edu.

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	Doctor-Patient Relationship SIG The doctor-patient relationship is the interface where physicians' clinical knowledge and skill are translated into care of the patient. While there has been a great deal of research published on this interface in the last twenty years, most of it has been segmented by methodology. These methodologies have included strictly quantitative approaches (such as the Roter Interaction Scale), conversation analytic approaches (studies by Tanya Stivers and others), approaches using standardized patients (studies by Ron Epstein and colleagues) and a number of studies using traditional qualitative methods. The metaphor that comes to mind is the old story about the three blind men trying to describe an elephant. The mission of the new Doctor-patient Relationship SIG is to create a forum for bringing together primary care researchers who use all these different lenses for examining the doctor-patient relationship and to promote collaboration across methodologic boundaries. Hopefully, this cross-fertilization will result in new mixed method study designs, particularly sorely needed longitudinal ones. An organizational meeting and a breakfast table are being planned for this year's NAPCRG meeting in Vancouver. Future plans include a website and listserv. Interested researchers are invited to contact the SIG chair, John Scott, at scottjg@umdnj.edu. home