Average versus Stellar

In the past nine months, I’ve been to over a dozen medical doctors—internists and specialists—with my spouse in an effort to get a clear treatment plan for his ailments. 

With each practitioner, we give “the shpiel”: the encapsulated details of what the issues are so that no small tidbit would be overlooked in coming up with solutions. We ask each doctor to be like Dr. House, the TV character who analyzes every angle and piece of information in order to crack the case.

Unfortunately, I discovered that, even when doctors present themselves as fully invested in your issues, sometimes they aren’t. While they think they are delivering excellence, they can be beset with tunnel vision. Sometimes, though they’re listening, they’re not really hearing you. They rely solely on what they know from within their specialty...