The New Gastroenterologist

24 // THE NEW GASTROENTEROLOGIST SPRING 2017 PATIENT PERSPECTIVES

What Makes an Excellent
Gastroenterologist? IBD Patient Perspectives
The Patient Governance Committee for Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) Partners: Brian Price,
Susan M. Johnson, Jessica Burris, David Walter, Jennifer E. Dorand, and Nicholas Uzl

We are a group of six adult inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients who serve as the Patient Governance Committee for CCFA
Partners – a patient-powered research
network that assists IBD patients,
researchers, and health care provid-
ers to partner in finding the answers
to questions about patient care and
improving the health and lives of pa-
tients living with these conditions.

To find out more about us, please visit our website at https://ccfa.med. unc.edu/ or send an email to info@ ccfapartners.org.

The foundation of good quality of care is the patient/physician relationship, and as patients we understand that foundation must be based on mutual respect, trust, and communication.

There are a few themes that emerge when thinking about these salient qualities:

Open communication between
patient and physician

Perhaps the single most important quality of a physician is a willingness to listen. IBD patients often don’t feel like they are being heard. Starting with a conversation about the patient’s goals

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