Beyond science, medicine

As a newly graduated veterinarian, you have amassed scientific and technical knowledge to diagnose and treat your patients in an exemplary manner. However, it will be fruitless if you are unable to communicate with others involved in your efforts. That means trying to find a common language, common experiences and common attitudes. The goal of effective communication is to truly connect with others, finding shared ground for discussion, problem-solving creativity and the transfer of information.

Your audience

Once in practice, you will be expected to communicate on several levels. Clients will require the majority of your communication skills, which will be as, if not more, important than you ability to diagnose, treat or perform surgery on your patients. Your clients might be happy, angry, bereaved, intelligent, stupid, confused, afraid, mistrusting, overly concerned, unconcerned and every other possible state of emotion. There often will be children with their parents. How you treat their questions, concerns and emotions will have an effect on your ability to communicate with the client. How well you communicate with the client in any of these situations or states determines your success.

Veterinary medicine is unique because our patients and our clients are not the same. Your clients will expect you to communicate with your patients by making them feel comfortable while in your care as well as understanding their fears and emotions. You must be careful, however, that you do not substitute your communications with clients by talking to the animal.

When it comes to your peers and colleagues, your satisfaction with your life as a veterinarian often will depend on how well you are able to communicate with those whom you work in close contact. In terms of business or technical staff, your ability to engender in a new position will, in large part, depend on how you communicate with staff members. Animal hospitals are team efforts. To be successful, you will be required to become part of that team.

Communication with your employer starts during the first interview. Hopefully your first experience will be as a mentee to an employer. How you respond to this process will have a monumental influence on how successful a veterinarian you become.

Interaction is equally important outside the profession, where communication with financial and legal advisors ranks high. Lack of communication in these areas can be costly. Suppliers will learn to respect what they can teach you, only if you're willing to listen.

And if you're in a governmental or administrative position, you might be asked to justify your actions or the actions of your colleagues and peers. Will you be able to do that? You also might be asked to represent the profession in front of media, animal owners or groups of students. Family is another important group in the communication chain.

Communication outlets

Effective communication occurs in six primary ways: thinking clearly, acting appropriately, talking sparingly, listening carefully, writing concisely and reading copiously. Talking is the most common method of communication and often the most dangerous. Think before you speak; what you say is not as important as how you say it. Your voice should be clear, confident and loud enough to be heard but not so loud as to be objectionable. The effectiveness of verbal communication is affected by your words, grammar and tone. Talking too much is as dangerous than not talking enough. We remember 25 percent of what we hear. When you tell a client three things, they have forgotten the first when they hear the third. When talking to clients, back up your conversations in writing. Effective talking can be learned.

In the case of an animal hospital, the telephone usually is the first contact the client has with the hospital. How you handle your telephone conversations with clients will have a profound effect on the relationship that you develop with them.

Written communication often encompasses documenting medical findings for records. If hand written, records should be legible, scientific and written in a manner that the person reading them can tell what has been done. These are legal documents. The courts have found that if medical conditions and procedures are not written on the record, they didn't happen. If your hospital uses computer-generated medical records, you will have to know how to create them. This also means communicating financial estimates to clients. Your ability in this area could eliminate the most common cause of client dissatisfaction. Still, nothing goes further to cement your client relationships than a hand-written note after the loss of a patient.

Electronic communication

In our busy and often-impersonal world, electronic communications will continue to become more commonly used. Many practices will communicate with clients via Web sites. Care should be taken to ensure some continued form of personal contact. When it comes to the Internet and e-mail, be careful what you have written before pushing the send button. Think about legal ramifications of what you have written. Spoken words evaporate into the air. Written words sent in an e-mail do not. They reflect history.

Listening

Listening is the most overlooked, abused and important form of communication. Too many of us are poor listeners who are more interested in what our response to the speaker will be than what the other person is saying. In his book, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff at Work", Richard Carlson, PhD, writes: "The reason that I return to listening so often is that, in my opinion, it's one of the most important ingredients for success in virtually all aspects of life — personal and professional. Unfortunately for many of us, it's also one of our greatest weaknesses." Carlson continues asking his readers: "Do you truly listen to your colleagues? Do you let them finish their thoughts before you take your turn? Do you sometimes finish sentences for other people?"

He concludes: " People who listen well are highly respected and sought after. Truly great listeners are so rare that when you are around one, it feels good, it makes you feel special." Listening is a skill that must be present or developed if you want to be able to communicate effectively.

Non-verbal communication

Non-verbal communication can tell us what is said, how it is said, why it is said, when it is said and who it is said to. But it is also what is not said. Non-verbal communication is conveyed through voice tones, volume, body gestures, body postures, facial expressions and hand movements. People with whom we communicate will add meaning to our message from our non-verbal actions. We always should use good manners and make direct eye contact when we talk or listen. Ninety-three percent of our thoughts, ideas and feelings are communicated without words. How the person we are attempting to communicate with perceives how we are reciprocating with them affects our success.

Dr. McCarthy is a visiting professor at St. Georges School of Veterinary Medicine where he lectures on ethics, jurisprudence and practice management. The author and former private practitioner from New York can be reached at jmccarthy4@compuserve.com.