The book consists of eight chapters, which are divided into theoretical and empirical sections.
The theoretical part draws on knowledge about the doctor-patient relationship gathered from the fields of medicine, health psychology or the sociology of medicine. In the first chapter, medical models will be shown in relation to the need for change in the doctor-patient relationship. Therefore, the relational implications of two older models will be highlighted, namely the biomedical model, the biopsychosocial model and three contemporary models: paternalistic, partnership and consumerist. This theoretical basis makes it possible to focus on the problem: How is the contemporary patient perceived? The following paragraphs will delineate the patient as: a disease case, a client, a victim of the health care system, a person, and as a so-called empowered patient. In the last part of the first chapter, the medical competences expected by patients will be analysed, namely communicativeness, the ability to listen to others, inspiring trust, empathy.
In the second chapter, references between the educational process and the essential elements of becoming a doctor will be indicated. The starting point will be an analysis of the theoretical training in medical science and the internship and traineeship as helpful in achieving medical competence. It will also be important to reflect on the complementarity and synchronicity of the education and self-education process. In the final section of chapter two, the doctor-patient relationship will be presented from the perspective of a special educator.
The essential research topic in chapter three will be doctor-patient communication and its impact on the treatment process. Interpersonal communication is a complex reality, the analysis of which required reflection on verbal communication, non-verbal communication and the communication environment. With regard to verbal communication, particular attention will be paid to the modes of communication and the types and forms of its reception. In non-verbal communication, facial expressions, hand gestures, body posture, eye contact, voice timbre and touch are important. The doctor's communication with the patient is also influenced by the environment in which the process takes place. Hence, the last two paragraphs of the third chapter will address the role of distance and proximity between doctor and patient and the decorum of the communication venue.