Exploring the face-to-face: Revisiting patient-doctor relationships in a time of expanding telemedicine

Abstract

The patient-doctor relationship lies at the heart of medicine. Confronted with the challenges of COVID-19, we find ourselves unable to provide care and comfort in the same physical space as our patients. As we are forced to reckon with telemedicine visits and contemplate continuing them in a postpandemic future, it is important to understand the difference relationally between telemedicine and face-to-face encounters. I will argue that face-to-face visits remain essential in establishing the most fundamentally human components of relationships: responsibility and vulnerability. This established bond assures fidelity in subsequent encounters, whether by phone, video, or in person.