BCH Listens: Neurosurgeon Dr. Lee Nelson on Making a Difference Through Listening

BCH Listens: In this video, neurosurgeon Dr. Lee Nelson speaks about how integral listening to patients has been for his practice.

"Listening, for a neurosurgeon, is critical to understanding what is going on with a patient," he says, "and helps us understand what brings them in to be seen. Many times, people come in with MRIs that we review, however, the story is really much more than what we’re seeing on the MRI. How we decide to treat them and, the care that we render to them is dependent upon what they tell us. You can’t really do neurosurgery without listening to the patient and finding out what’s really driving the visit."

"Listening, is really one of the key tools that a physician can use to help a patient and that ultimately is why we became physicians in the first place," Dr. Nelson said. "In large part, most physicians became doctors to solve problems and help people in their lives. You just can’t be as helpful to people unless you’re listening to them and taking the time to hear what their concerns are and listen to identify the clinical problem."

For more, please go to bch.org/BCHListens.