The smile is stronger than the handshake

• Main Authors: Lauren Fine, Vijay Rajput
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) 2020-04-01
• Series: MedEdPublish
• Subjects: Handshake; Handwashing; Nonverbal communication
• Online Access: https://www.mededpublish.org/Manuscripts/2914

Healthcare providers struggle with the timing of handwashing and the handshake during the visit with patients, we question whether the handshake is even a necessary component of the modern introduction. The Physician-Patient relationship is strongest when built on trust, and typically begins with a traditional handshake. The importance of hand hygiene has become an integral part of the patient encounter. Taking a break for hand-hygiene interrupts the natural flow of the initial introduction and non-verbal body language to our patients. In current time constrained visits, we focus on handwashing instead of on continuous eye-contact with our patient. It is arguable that the elimination of the handshake may allow one to focus on more culturally acceptable universal verbal and non-verbal communication skills that help us to build essential trust with our patients.