Knowing Your Patients as a Person - Dr. Ken Johnson, Executive Dean of Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine

“If a patient feels like their doctor knows them as a person, they're eight to nine times more likely to follow through with their treatment instructions,” says Dr. Ken Johnson. Creating that kind of connection is more challenging in a virtual visit, he worries, not to mention the reduced opportunity to take the actual “hands-on” approach to care that osteopathic physicians practice. But schools of medicine like the one he runs at Ohio University are finding ways to teach telehealth skills, and Johnson has confidence the students will make it work. “Students have great ideas about how to evolve things, and I challenge every single class that comes in to give us feedback to improve the process for them,” he tells host Shiv Gaglani. Embracing the sudden ascendence of telehealth is just one of the major adjustments today’s medical students are having to make in the midst of a once-in-a-century pandemic, and Johnson sees building their resilience to manage the stressful and unpredictable nature of a career in medicine as a key objective, which he says can be accomplished if you create an “environment of support.” Catch this conversation with host Shiv Gaglani as Johnson discusses how that can be done, strategies for serving rural communities and why so many schools of osteopathic medicine are located in relatively small towns. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast