THE COMMUNICATIVE PATTERNS FOR ESTABLISHING RAPPORT IN DOCTOR-PATIENT INTERACTION

Abstract

The paper presents results of a study of professional medical discourse in doctor-patient interaction. The purpose of the study lies in the identification of communicative patterns relevant for a doctor to establish rapport with a patient at the medical appointment. The research materials are represented by educational videos in English illustrating the doctor’s appointment, taken by the accredited medical schools. The performed analysis has shown that one of the key non-verbal means of establishing rapport is active listening. Verbal means are expressed by open-ended questions, leading questions, encouraging phrases, expressions of acceptance and understanding, as well as paraphrasing and clarification. The phrases extracted from the video materials are subdivided into four groups according to the stages of the patient-orientated communication model: establishing contact, orientation, argumentation, and correction. The research materials may be of use for researchers addressing the issues of professional medical discourse, medical practitioners, and medical students aspiring to improve the level of professional foreign language communicative competence.