Doctor and patient : hints to both / by Dr. Robert Gersuny ... ; translated, with the permission of the author, by A. S. Levetus ; with a preface by D. J. Leech.

  • Gersuny, Robert.
Date:
1898
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Doctor and patient : hints to both / by Dr. Robert Gersuny ... ; translated, with the permission of the author, by A. S. Levetus ; with a preface by D. J. Leech. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by University of Bristol Library. The original may be consulted at University of Bristol Library.

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    first! I'm not going to let him doctor me!' And now I know that he was right! When examining a patient there are questions which should not be asked in the presence of a third person lest they be answered falsely. It is preferable that those about him should be questioned separately. Those in health see things in a different light from the sick, so that they either do not care to express their opinions openly before the invalid, or, if they do speak out, may perhaps arouse contradiction from the patient and make him think that the doctor places no reliance on what he says. When a patient makes an assertion which seems improbable, or which is obviously untrue, no sign of doubting his veracity must be given. To convict a person of mendacity is always a delicate matter, indeed, many people do not mind telling a lie when embarrassed. If this weakness be treated indulgently the patient will recognize the fact and will eventually be grateful for it. What people say is not as a rule to be taken too literally, because the same words when used in different districts, in different grades of society, and in different families, do not always bear the same meaning, and even in various branches of the same