According to this article written by Ledford, Canzona and Cafferty, who quote Cichon and Masterson, physicians must balance between their two roles of “practicing medical expertise (delivering medical in¬ formation) and providing humanistic treatment” (30). The context of the visit, whether it is technical (regarding basic information and prescriptions) or biopsychosocial (involving emotions and coping), facilitates what type of nonverbal communication will be used. The study of Ledford, Canzona and Cafferty, all of whom are involved with institutions such as the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sci¬ences, Texas State University and George Mason University, examines the importance and usage of nonverbal behaviors such as eye contact, gestures, nodding, body orientation, touch and illustrators. This article presents several different types of nonverbal communication that occur in clinics and will help me not only define the importance of these cues but also how they can be used in different divisions of medical …show more content…
Though it doesn’t furnish specific types of nonverbal behavior, it details how critical understanding these behaviors is to practicing physicians. The authors are both heads of the Clinical and Communication Skills Learning Unit at the Barts and The London school of Medicine and dentistry. It is short but concise and spotlights the findings of several professionals in this area of study, particularly Levine and Ambady with their ideas of “implications and solutions” of racial disparities in nonverbal behavior. This article provides background knowledge and understanding of my topic and reinforces my thesis. It can be used to document my position in the explanation of my module and highlight problem areas or consequences of poor nonverbal behavior in the medical