What's in a name?

doi:10.1136/bmj.a687

Published 15 July 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a687
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a687

Letters

Manners in medicine

What’s in a name?

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

As a patient I have been quite taken aback that whenever I’veseen doctors recently they have called me by my first name whileintroducing themselves by their title and surname. I find itdistinctly unhelpful in my interaction with another adult tobe addressed like a child by their teacher when the experienceof illness is already making me feel unsettled, vulnerable,and anxious.¹

Whenever I have raised this matter of unequal address duringa consultation, it has been met with surprise and the mentionof wanting to make me feel at ease. In Germany it would be unthinkablefor a doctor to introduce himself as Dr Schmidt while summoninga patient from the waiting room by calling out "Helmut" or "Angela."

I am curious as to whether there have been any recent guidelinesto encourage this practice in Britain, why it seems to be thenorm, and why . . . [Full text of this article]

Anke Medrington, interpreter and translator

¹ Stockport SK4 2QU

ankevondallau@googlemail.com

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