The doctor-patient relationship is a cornerstone of effective healthcare, serving as the bedrock upon which trust, empathy, and communication are built. This essential bond is not formed overnight; it requires time, dedication, and a diverse array of skills to cultivate. From the initial consultation to ongoing care, the nuances of this relationship profoundly influence patient outcomes and satisfaction.
Doctor Dejeu Team aims to offer high standard medical care for bariatric patients, but also offer psychological support and create a safe and pleasant environment for people to let go of their insecurities and speak freely about their needs.
Dr. Viorel Dejeu and Dr. Dănuț Dejeu, co-founders of Doctor Dejeu Clinic, have always wanted their team – surgeons, psychologists, nutritionists, office managers – to adopt the right attitude towards failure and difficult situations: “We learn by failing. We don’t know where we get this idea that we have to get it right the first time, and if it doesn’t happen, we consider it a failure.”
And in order to make sure that everything was clear on this point, the multidisciplinary team agreed never to forget the following rules:
– We do not scold anyone;
– We don’t look down on anyone;
– Rather than criticize, help;
– Rather than ‘putting someone on the spot’, it is better to answer their question;
– When you talk to a patient, you have to be there just for them, whether it’s one minute, ten or however many;
– Did the patient forget what you said? Repeat;
– Whatever carelessness a patient does, empathy and compassion are defining;
– To whatever harm, we respond with good!
“Our attitude is to say what has been done wrong, but with the aim of helping the patient move forward”
Patients are ordinary people who sometimes make mistakes – sometimes they follow some indications, sometimes none. And when they come face to face with the doctor they can be vulnerable. This is where the doctor’s understanding and, above all, empathy come in.
Dr. Viorel Dejeu, Primary Care Surgeon, super-specialized in Advanced Minimally Invasive Surgery, Oncological Surgery and Hepatato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, tells us that “You can be understanding of a person’s weaknesses and shortcomings only if you are aware of your own. After all, that’s what empathy is, to be able to sit next to a person as they are, to understand them and be able to encourage them.”
“Anyone can criticize, there’s nothing superior in that. Our attitude is to say what has not been done well, but with the aim of helping the patient to evolve. We speak in everyone’s language, kindly, gently. There used to be a kind of medicine where doctors treated patients as if they were children in kindergarten. All that was missing was a linebacker to slap them on the knuckles when they made a mistake. Hence part of the ‘doctor fear’.”
“When you make yourself vulnerable, you can also be easily hurt or scared”. The Doctor Dejeu team – leaders in bariatric care in Romania, is aware of this and that’s why they do their best to make patients feel as if they are among friends. No hypocrisy, no high tone, no grandstanding.