Why Doctors Don't Disclose Uncertainty

Katz examines physicians' reluctance to admit to uncertainty or to discuss it with patients, seeing this disregard or denial of uncertainty as one of the ways in which physicians impose order on complex and inexact situations.

Abstract

Katz examines physicians' reluctance to admit to uncertainty or to\ndiscuss it with patients. He sees this disregard or denial of uncertainty as\none of the ways in which physicians impose order on complex and inexact\nsituations. Professional pressures to conform to orthodox practice may also\nbe responsible for an unwillingness or inability to discuss alternative\ntherapies with patients. Fear that their effectiveness as healers will be\ncompromised if a more open approach is attempted could explain why doctors\ncontinue in their authoritarian role. Katz concludes by urging physicians to\nconsider the impact their attitude toward uncertainty has on the physician\npatient relationship. (KIE abstract)