YOUR FIRST: heartsink.

Publication: Pulse

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COPYRIGHT 2004 CMP Information Ltd.

Dr Chris Hall offers some advice on dealing with the various types of patient who fall into the heartsink category

There are as many types of heartsink patient as there are types of GP. The politically incorrect notion of the weeping middle-aged tissue- wringer is an unfortunate stereotype, for in truth, heartsink status is independent of age and sex (reassuringly I have yet to meet any paediatric heartsinks, though it may only be a matter of time).

You can be certain that somebody, somewhere, has authored a highly incisive treatise on the dynamics of what we shall call the `challenging consultation', but I doubt that beyond suggesting coping mechanisms, such research can be of much practical use.

Many GPs consider the heartsink patient to be part of life's rich tapestry - indeed, while preparing for the video component of the MRCGP examination the registrar may find his or her heart...

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