Chris Reid: The art of communication

'Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something' - Plato.

A fundamental part of being a good GP is being able to communicate well with anybody despite the wide array of personal beliefs and personality types. Of course that goes for the GP as much as the patient.

Tolerance, respect, empathy, inclusiveness, a good listener are just a few of the virtues that I look for and encourage in our medical students when they come to my surgery from Auckland for their six-week rural GP attachment. Ignorance, bias, prejudice, exclusiveness, racism, sexism, dogmatism and bullying are some of the traits we do not want to see.

What traits do you have? What behaviour types have you seen in our community in the last week?

I will give you a third option, possibly the most common. I call it 'subconscious bias,' or 'naive prejudice.' Despite constant reminders to myself, I am guilty of this trait at times, as I am sure we all are. I feel I have to constantly learn and reflect but I still make mistakes.

In some respects the medical students teach me more than I teach them. Medical students are a wonderfully diverse mix, no more so than the rich tapestry of modern day Aotearoa. They are bright, polite, humble and keen to learn (if not go surfing in some cases, but there is nothing wrong with that).

The students who are not 'obviously' Pakeha or Maori are asked daily by our community about how long they are here for and when they are they going to go back to their country. The students smile and engage.

The feedback we get is that they really enjoy their time up here in Northland. Let's hope they all come back and work.

The level at which one can appropriately probe into a person's life when we meet for the first time is a constantly changing fine line through the course of history. If you have a Facebook page you are encouraged pretty much to own up to every facet of your life for all to ponder.

Whilst there are some persona traits society seems to encourage you to talk about there are some that just have to be silently acknowledged. There is an unwritten etiquette.

For the most part I think society is going in the right direction. Maybe in 20 years' time all that will be noted on our Facebook page will be, 'I am proud to be an Earthling, my iwi is Planet Earth.'

Speaking of planets, one of the most influential people on Earth right now is Elon Musk. This is what he has to say: 'I think it's very important to have a feedback loop, where you're constantly thinking about what you've done and how you could be doing it better.

I think that's the single best piece of advice: constantly think about how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself.'

Embrace our community, our humanity, respect everyone, because when it really counts, they are the same as you.