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What are you doing to improve your image?

2006; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 59; Issue: 12 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/01.hj.0000286311.88697.40

2333-6218

Robert L. Martin,

Empathy and Medical Education

Figure: Robert L. MartinWhat images does your practice project to patients? Do your patients see you as a stumbling beginner? An about-to-retire old-timer? I hope not. Whether or not we work to develop our professional image, patients see one. They remember this image and it strongly in-fluences how they perceive us. So, I have two questions for you: What do people see when they look at you, your staff, and your office? And how do patients assess the competence of a professional? I want to answer these questions by telling you an intriguing true story, but first let's talk about how the “greasy French fry people,” McDonald's, are creating an impressive new image. A HEALTHIER IMAGE Every Wednesday, I eat at the local McDonald's restaurant. For several months, McDonald's gave away CDs on exercise and health. I collected all four: Yoga, Cardio, Strength, and Core Conditioning. I watched them and started using the Yoga CD everyday when I exercised. To my pleasant surprise, the pain I had felt in my lower back for years disappeared. I hope you appreciate the brilliance of this idea. McDonald's, the company that makes billions of dollars selling greasy French fries and fatty hamburgers, the very symbol of the junk food blamed for making Americans obese and unfit, comes out with a practical exercise program supported by professionally crafted CDs that they give away to customers. They have also introduced healthy foods that taste good. Step by step, McDonald's is building a better image. People like me take the CDs home, watch them, and then talk to other people about them. This idea is generating huge amounts of free marketing. No wonder McDonald's is one of the most successful businesses in the world. There are things that we should learn from their example and apply in our field. The hearing aid industry, like the fast food industry, does not have a good image. We need to work on ours. We should start by creating a library of CDs that practitioners can give to patients who come in with problems. Titles would include: “How to control and eliminate feedback,” “Itchy ears,” “I hear but I don't understand.” We can help solve our patients' problems and at the same time improve our image. CREATING A PROFESSIONAL IMAGE Now, changing the subject, I want to answer my two questions: What do patients see? How do patients assess competence? To do this, I'll tell you a compelling true story that changed my ideas about image. In 1980, I had just moved into my new office building on Third Avenue in Chula Vista, south of San Diego. I had rooms for rent, so a pediatrician friend sent a man I'll call Dr. Oscar Alarcon to see me. Dr. Alarcon, who practiced internal medicine, was looking for office space. After a few discussions, we signed an agreement for him to rent space from me. He practiced medicine in my building and at the local hospital for several months. He practiced medicine, that is, until I reported him to the authorities for practicing without a license. In short, he was a fraud—a very good one. After I talked to the State License Board and the medical school from where he had supposedly graduated, I found out he had no medical training. I talked with my staff and the three physicians with whom he had been associated. Without exception, every-one refused to believe he was not a physician! Oscar Alarcon dressed impeccably. He wore expensive suits with vests, clean surgical scrubs, long, white, starched medical jackets with his name written on them. He was very polite and calm. His wife, who also dressed impeccably, brought the staff cookies a couple of times. He attended parties at the physicians' homes. He was friendly and sociable. He was spotlessly clean, always washing his hands. He wore a stethoscope when he worked and kept a supply of rubber gloves, tongue blades, and other medical supplies handy. He had a comprehensive filling system. He took notes. He listened well to patients. He radiated professionalism, confidence, and charisma. But, he was 100% phony. Wearing surgical green scrubs he would see patients at the hospital. He told some of them, apologetically, that he had no cash because, he explained, “I just moved into the area.” Patients jumped at the opportunity to lend this friendly new doctor money—lots of it. Needless to say, they were unhappy when they learned he had betrayed them. When I called the California State Medical License Board a second time, just to be doubly sure he didn't have a license, an employee there said, “I've been expecting you to call back.” “Why?” I asked. ”People can't believe it when they meet a person pretending to be a doctor,” she said. “They always call back to make sure.” “What do I do?” I asked. “Call the police,” she said. I did, and he wound up in prison. LEARNING FROM A CHARLATAN Strange as it may seem, I learned something valuable from “Dr.” Alarcon, this complete charlatan and a criminal as well. At the time, I dressed in short-sleeved shirts and seldom wore a tie. Unlike my tenant, I was a doctor, yet, again unlike him, I did not look like one. I expected patients to recognize that I was educated, competent, and licensed. I was expecting too much. When I discovered that Oscar, who everyone believed was a consummate doctor because he looked and acted the part, was actually an impostor, it taught me a powerful lesson, one I will never forget. I went out and purchased six long-sleeved dress shirts, a half-dozen ties, and a suit. I had my diplomas mounted on wooden plaques and hung them in the waiting room. I got name badges for all the staff and wore one that said, “Dr. Martin” on the first line, and “Audiologist” on the second. I also put a “Dr. Martin, audiologist” sign on the office door. Everyone (including con artists) knows how doctors and other healthcare professionals should look and act. So, if we don't match that expectation, we need to take steps to enhance our image. Here are five things I have done recently to improve mine. I suggest that you consider similar actions. Replace your old 15-inch computer monitors with 19-inch flat screens. Re-decorate your office: new paint, new colors, new art, new carpet, etc. Improve the lighting. Make sure your office looks bright, clean, and up to date. Buy some new professional clothes. I recently purchased four suit jackets. Go on vacation. Get massages. Try yoga. When you feel better, you look better. We all know how to polish up our image. We just need the time, energy, money, and motivation to do it. Today is a good day to follow Emeril's advice: Take your image and “kick it up a notch.” VISIT OUR NEW HOME PAGE Hearing Journal readers are invited to come browse the newly redesigned and expanded Hearing Journal web site at www.hearingjournal.com. As part of the strategic partnership between Audiology Online and HJ, the new www.hearingjournal.com now includes pdfs of HJ articles from 1999 right up through the latest issue. So, if you've thrown out a back issue or can't wait for your new issue to arrive in the mail to read the latest Cover Story or Page Ten, just go online.