(NPR) For A Black Doctor, Building Trust By Slowing Down

While [Dr. Gregory] McGriff says he is forced to do things most other doctors wouldn’t necessarily do, he also notes that the disparity ”” while seeming unfair ”” has served up a bit of sweet irony: It has helped make him a better doctor. At a time when cost-cutting and understaffing place pressure on physicians to move swiftly through their rounds, McGriff adopted a bedside manner to earn a patient’s trust that has now become his signature at Rutherford Regional hospital.

“I make a point to do something that many of my partners don’t do ”” most physicians don’t do anymore. I sit,” McGriff says. “I sit in the room, and I ask the patient to tell me their story. I’m really interested in these stories, by the way, and every client I meet has a very interesting story.

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