RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Exploring the Face-to-Face: Revisiting Patient-Doctor Relationships in a Time of Expanding Telemedicine
JF The Journal of the American Board of Family
                Medicine
JO J Am Board Fam Med
FD American Board of Family Medicine
SP S252
OP S254
DO 10.3122/jabfm.2021.S1.200398
VO 34
IS Supplement
A1 Edgoose, Jennifer Y. C.
YR 2021
UL http://www.jabfm.org/content/34/Supplement/S252.abstract
AB The patient-doctor relationship lies at the heart of medicine. Confronted with the challenges of COVID-19, we find ourselves unable to provide care and comfort in the same physical space as our patients. As we are forced to reckon with telemedicine visits and contemplate continuing them in a postpandemic future, it is important to understand the difference relationally between telemedicine and face-to-face encounters. I will argue that face-to-face visits remain essential in establishing the most fundamentally human components of relationships: responsibility and vulnerability. This established bond assures fidelity in subsequent encounters, whether by phone, video, or in person.