My creative piece is a simple poem adopting a rhyming couplet format, it recounts aspects of the clinical modelling in a rigid and almost sarcastic tone to highlight the importance of talking to patients as people, and how this can be sometimes lost in the modern healthcare world. The lack of compassion and cynical nature throughout the poem, until the last line is intended to make the reader feel uncomfortable, as it reflects how patients feel in consultations when they are treated as patients before they are treated as people. I did this to highlight the idea that all conversations should be at a human to human level not paternalistic doctor to patient one.
The poem alludes to the scary and unknown world of medicine to a lay person, with its big worded jargon and infamous google horrors, we can often forget that the diagnoses we give are life changing and often completely unknown to the patient. This, as well as time restricted consultations can make patients feel uneasy and alone, so it is even more imperative to show them you care, and you are not just following a format.
When talking to patients and sharing experiences, it is apparent how much patients remember distinct conversations and consultations, which again forefronts the idea that if consultations are given at a human level that evoke compassion – they are going to make a patient’s experience much less daunting and remembered for the right reasons.

Effective Consulting, Year Two
Creative Prize-winner 2020