11 Ways to Better Communicate With Your Colleagues

So you graduated at the top of your class, finished a prestigious residency, and are now toiling away in the battle to make cancer a disease of the past. Perhaps you are in private practice, or a professor at the university, or working for a hospital-based cancer center. No matter where you hang out your shingle, if your duties include patient care then you are going to be interacting with other oncologists. You will round with them, conference with them, cover for them, and, as all of us are wont to do, judge the quality of their patient care. You may find some of their ideas of dubious quality. You may cringe at their communication skills. You may even wonder if the Neanderthals are not as extinct as people say they are. When this happens you must resist the temptation to rip into your colleagues. No oncologist can truly be considered exceptional and unconditionally admirable unless they learn the gentle art of tact-of constructive criticism, finessed and delivered in such a way as to minimize the risk of sparking a tantrum, let alone a long hiatus in the nearest tavern. Help your peers to become better physicians by respecting them first, then relaying your concerns to them. Here are some examples of how not to do it, paired with a kinder, gentler response.