ABSTRACT
Doctors and patients don’t always connect, and when they do, it can seem like a special kind of alchemy. However, doctor-patient connection is a skill that both doctors and patients already practice in daily life. Connection between any two individuals is based on mutual respect, which is aided by each accurately observing, listening, and reading emotions correctly. Accurate visual, auditory, and emotion perception can be achieved through metacognition, thinking about thinking, and related metaperception, thinking about perceptual data. Between doctors and patients, as doctors are experts in clinical diagnosis and patients are experts on being themselves, the differing focus of expertise (medical diagnosis vs. the patient) can be a barrier to connection. Exacerbating this, the Dunning-Kruger effect, an ingrained human tendency toward overrating competence, particularly when unskilled, can be a further barrier to optimal interaction that cognitive and perceptual psychology can overcome. Carefully thinking about our thinking and perceptions can create useful habits for optimizing healthcare interactions.
