Real-Life Communication -- Solution
Here's what you could write:
The new heart
treatment has shown some promising results. I've prepared this brief
summary to bring you up to date.
The study consists of input from 38
medical centers around the world. To date, 535 procedures have been cataloged.
This represents 523 patients, including 12 who have had more than one procedure.
The
patients range in age from 15 days old to 71 years old. The mean age is about
3.5 years. That means most patients are children.
Almost all patients
suffered some sort of heart murmur. The majority showed continuous murmurs.
Another 96 showed systolic murmurs. Only 46 patients had no murmurs.
A
small number of patients had undergone other procedures. These included ligation
(14), installation of pacemakers (63), valve repair (26) and angioplasty (33).
To
date, the results are promising. About 425 patients survived a year after
the procedure. Small numbers have lived between one and six months (54) and
six to 12 months (66).
Overall, the procedure is still in the developing
stages. But it bears watching. I hope you've found this update helpful.
Don't hesitate to contact us with any questions.
"Communication
must be clear, concise and relevant, and appropriate for the situation and
education level," says pediatric cardiologist Robert Campbell. He's the chief
of cardiac services at the Sibley Heart Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
"Oftentimes
physicians can speak in complex technical terms, using their own jargon,"
says Dr. Campbell. "However, families may not understand and may be [too]
intimidated to ask for clarification."
Pediatric cardiologists also
need to communicate well with their colleagues. This isn't always easy, especially
when everyone is under pressure.
"[G]iven the intensity of this work,
at times we may not manifest the best interpersonal skills and communication
one with another, only adding to the intensity of the situation," says Dr.
Campbell.
"It's important to remember that the most
important customer that the physician and care team has at the hospital is
themselves. If we take care of one another, we can take better care of our
patients, families, and referring physicians."