Religion
Dialogue between Doctor and patient.
Here a non-Muslim doctor deals with a female Muslim patient who has come into the Emergency Department with acute abdominal pain, accompanied by her husband.
German (Deutsch) |
English |
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| Doctor: | Guten Tag. [er sieht kurz in Richtung der Frau, wendet sich dann an den Mann; die Männer geben sich die Hände] [wartet darauf, dass die Frau ihm die Hand gibt] | Hello. [looks only briefly in direction of the woman, turns then to the man; both men shake hands.] [waits for the woman to offer her hand] |
| Husband: | Guten Tag. | Hello. |
| Woman: | Guten Tag. [reicht dem Arzt die Hand, er nimmt sie] | Hello [stretches out her hand to the doctor, he takes it] |
| Doctor: | Warum sind sie in die Notaufnahme gekommen? [er sieht kurz die Frau an, dann den Ehemann] | What has brought you here? [looks briefly to the woman, then to the man] |
| Woman: | Ich habe Schmerzen. [sieht in Richtung ihres Mannes] | I have pains... [looks in direction of her husband] |
| Husband: | Meine Frau hat sehr starke Magenschmerzen. | My wife has very bad stomach ache. |
| Doctor: | Wo tut es Ihnen weh? | Where does it hurt? |
| Woman: | Hier… [die Frau zeigt auf ihre gesamte Bauchregion] | Here... [the woman indicates, vaguely moving her hand all over her abdominal region] |
| Doctor: | Könnten Sie bitte versuchen, genauer zu zeigen, wo es Ihnen weh tut? | Could you please try to show it more precisely? |
| Woman: | Ja… ungefähr hier. [wieder zeigt die Frau auf ihre gesamte Bauchregion] | Yes… around here… [again the woman indicates vaguely, moving her hand over almost her entire abdomen] |
| Doctor: | Meinen Sie vielleicht… an dieser Stelle und... hier? [er zeigt auf seinen eigenen Körper] | Do you mean perhaps here and here? [indicating on his own body] |
| Woman: | Ja, ich glaube schon. | Yes, I think so. |
| Doctor: | Vielen Dank. Dies hilft mir weiter. Es wird wahrscheinlich nichts Schlimmes sein. Doch um sicher zu gehen, muss ich sie noch genauer untersuchen. | Thank you. This has helped me to understand. It might be nothing bad. But to give me a clearer idea, I will need to examine you. |
| Doctor: | [zu der Patientin] Ich glaube, sie würden lieber von einer weiblichen Ärztin untersucht werden. Leider ist meine Kollegin heute nicht da. Momentan bin ich der einzige Arzt im Dienst. Ich hoffe, dies stört sie nicht. Dies ist ein Notfall. Unsere weibliche Krankenschwester, Frau Schulz, wird mir während der Untersuchung helfen. | [to the patient] I am sure you might prefer to have a female doctor. Unfortunately, our colleague is not here today. At the moment I am the only doctor on duty. I hope you don’t mind. This is an emergency situation. Our female nurse, Mrs. Schulz, will help me during the examination. |
| Doctor: | [zum Ehemann] Dies ist eine Notsituation. Wir müssen Ihre Frau umgehend untersuchen. Unsere Krankenschwester wird Ihrer Frau helfen, sich zu entkleiden und sie wird mich bei der Untersuchung unterstützen. | [to the husband] This is an emergency situation. We need to help your wife without delay. Nurse will help your wife undress and she will help me during the examination. |
| Husband: | In Ordnung. | Alright. |
| Doctor: | [inzwischen ist die Krankenschwester hereingekommen] Vielen Dank. Bitte warten Sie draußen. Die Krankenschwester wird Ihrer Frau helfen, sich auf die Untersuchung vorzubereiten. | [meanwhile nurse has entered the room] Thanks. Please wait outside. Nurse will help your wife to get ready for the examination. |
Intercultural comment
In Muslim cultures the ‘honour’ of both men and women has to be preserved under all circumstances. It is not only individuals who are responsible for their own ‘honour’, but the whole of society. Being alone in the presence of a male stranger can compromise the honour of a woman if she is not escorted by a male relative. A woman, who in Muslim eyes, talks too openly to a male stranger, compromises her own honour and that of her husband, and this harms his reputation. It is for these reasons that the patient in the example above is so reserved. The doctor behaves correctly in trying to involve her husband, avoiding giving him the impression that he is not in control of the situation and calling on the presence of a female nurse during the examination.
Muslims avoid eye and body contact between men and women not belonging to the same family, as this compromises the integrity of the body and is generally regarded as shameful. Even a handshake can be compromising in Muslim cultures. Non-Muslim doctors often shake hands in order to establish a relationship based on trust. In the example, the doctor first shakes hands with the husband and leaves it to the patient to decide if she is comfortable with this kind of body contact. In Muslim cultures it is always the woman who decides if she wishes to shake hands with the man.
Because of the need to avoid body contact, Muslim men and women usually choose doctors of their own sex. The only exception is an emergency situation. In the example above it is right to stress this fact in order to avoid religious objections.
People from Muslim as well as many other cultures are not accustomed to identifying the location of pain in a precise manner, as, for example, Northern Europeans would do. It is not that the patient is unwilling to say where the pain is, she simply does not know.