Question 1: Language analysis comparing two doctor–patient  interactions in hospital 

Data 

From below you will find transcripts of two consultations with ‘Jack’, a  patient in a hospital emergency department. In transcript 1, Jack meets with a junior  doctor. In transcript 2, recorded several hours later, Jack meets with the senior  emergency department registrar. In between these consultations, the junior doctor  has reported back to the senior registrar about his interaction with Jack.

Task 

Your task is to write a critical discussion comparing and contrasting how the junior doctor and the senior registrar interact with Jack. 

Analytical process 

To do this, you should first use the questions in the ‘Analysing healthcare  interactions: key dimensions’ handout from week 4 to identify and analyse the  aspects of the interactions that seem to you most interesting and that show the  greatest similarities or contrasts.  

Critical synthesis 

Once you have analysed the different dimensions of interest, synthesise your  findings by writing a critical discussion of the two interactions. You  should avoid simply listing, describing or enumerating your findings. You must  instead incorporate your findings within an argument. To arrive at your argument, ask yourself:

• From the patient’s point of view, how might each of these interactions have  been helpful/unhelpful? In what ways? 

• In terms of the quality and safety of health care, what key strengths/weaknesses can you identify in the junior and senior doctors’ ways  of interacting with the patient? 

• What do the ways of interacting of the two doctors suggest about the nature  of contemporary Australian emergency health care? 

• Does your analysis suggest any ways in which junior doctors might need  mentoring in communication skills by more senior doctors?

Communication in Health Care

week 4 handout