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The Doctor Who Cried: A Qualitative Study About the Doctor’s Vulnerability

¹ Research Unit and Department of General Practice, University of Copenhagen, Panum Institute, Denmark
² Section for General Practice, Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Norway

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Kirsti Malterud, MD, PhD, Section for General Practice, University of Bergen, Kalfarveien 31, N-5015, Bergen, Norway, kirsti.malterud{at}isf.uib.no

PURPOSE We wanted to explore those clinical events when doctors had exposed their vulnerability toward patients in a potentially beneficial way.

METHODS We undertook a qualitative study based on memory work, a structured approach to transform memories into written texts. Study participants were 9 members of a research group who had known each other a couple of years. They were asked in advance to recall a clinical event during which vulnerability was perceived and exposed in a way appreciated positively by the patient. During a group meeting, participants wrote their individual memory stories recalling these events, and the subsequent group discussion was audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using a phenomenological approach, applying specific linguistic cues to reveal points of special interest. The main outcome measure was the vulnerability expressed by practitioners.

RESULTS Vulnerability had been experienced and exposed by the participants on several occasions during which the patients had confirmed its potentially beneficial effect. All reported events could be interpreted as different ways of personal disclosure toward the patient. We identified two kinds of disclosure: spontaneously appearing emotions and considered sharing of experiences.

CONCLUSION A spontaneous exposure of emotions from the doctor may help the patient, and sharing personal experiences may lead to constructive interaction. We need to know more about when and how personal disclosure and other aspects of vulnerability exposed by the doctor are experienced as beneficial by the patient.

Key Words: Family practice • qualitative research • professional role • disclosure • vulnerability • memory work

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