PrepTest 140, Section 3, Question 23
Medical school professor: Most malpractice suits arise out(66 more words not shown)
The medical school professor's statements,(10 more words not shown)
- AEconomic incentives to(13 more words not shown)
- BThe economic incentives(18 more words not shown)
- CMalpractice suits brought(8 more words not shown)
- DThe scientific outlook(12 more words not shown)
- EDoctors foster, by(13 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A doctor may be focused on treating the illness while the patient hears, 'I don't have time for you.' Those aren't the same perspective.
The professor describes doctors being rude, discouraging questions, and talking down to patients. Whatever the doctors intend, I can see why those actions would make patients feel ignored. If a patient thinks a doctor isn't paying attention, the patient might also doubt whether the care is being taken seriously.
The economic incentives raise another question: will this behavior keep happening? If, for example, a doctor is under pressure to see more patients quickly, taking time to explain everything could feel costly. That's one possible way the incentives might operate, not a detail the passage establishes. It makes me wonder whether the incentives would keep the behavior going.
What we’re looking for
For the supported conclusion, though, we must stay with what the professor actually gives us. We can consider that possibility without treating it as a guaranteed forecast.
Working the answers
- A
The incentives may help explain some rude behavior, and that behavior may contribute to perceptions that lead to suits. But we aren't told the incentives are the main cause of malpractice suits. A possible contributing route doesn't establish that it outweighs every other cause.
- B
Two different relationships are given: regarding medicine as a science is connected with reduced compassion, and certain incentives encourage rudeness. The passage doesn't say the incentives produce the scientific outlook. We shouldn't add that link merely because both ideas appear in the same passage.
- C
A patient's perception of carelessness could be accurate or inaccurate. The professor explains how perceptions and behavior can contribute to lawsuits without evaluating the merits of most suits. We cannot assume that a communication problem makes a claim unjustified.
- D
The professor identifies a problem with reduced compassion but doesn't recommend replacing the scientific approach entirely. Doctors might retain that approach while listening more carefully and treating people respectfully. A possible problem with current behavior doesn't establish this sweeping replacement policy.
- ECorrect
Rudeness, discouraging questions, and patronizing patients can help create the impression that the doctor doesn't care. This is a narrower, better-supported conclusion than the forecast we considered about doctors continuing the behavior. E connects the actions described with the perception they can encourage, without deciding what doctors actually feel or whether the patients' medical complaints are justified.
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