Throughout the semester, in this course as well as through the experiences I had in the clinic, it became overwhelmingly clear that communication skills are just as important, if not more so. for a health care provider than the training he or she has received. It is inherent in our human nature to trust those who treat us with kindness and understanding. It is for this reason that communication skills are as essential to effective care as clinical skills are in the practice of medicine. Balancing these two key elements of healthcare becomes more challenging every day in our community as healthcare advances and patient demographics become significantly more diverse. This pressure on the field shows great opportunities for growth as a field, but also opens the door for patients who fall through the cracks due to language, cultural, or educational barriers. Medical providers, optometrists in particular, are being forced to adapt their practice models to accommodate this change. Best practice models are evolving and communication is the basis for this change. Optometry is unique compared to a field such as general medicine; as a field, optometry is relatively new to many people. The importance of optometry is no longer limited to helping patients see better, it now extends to maintaining eye health and screening for many other health problems. Because its importance is increasingly understood and known by the general public, the number of patients seeking treatment is increasing significantly. As noted above, this drastic growth not only increases the number of patients, but also the number of locations where optometry is practiced, as well as changing the demographics of patients seen...... middle of paper . ..... better care for all patients. Personal Reflection As a future optometrist, best practices are what I hope to achieve with every patient and I believe the whole purpose of learning to communicate with patients is to be able to achieve this goal. While I agree with what Grol and Grimshaw said about the importance of continuing education and finding effective and efficient ways to integrate new techniques into our practices, I still believe that the most The most important best practice is communication with the patient. As I said above, I would like to return to Minnesota to practice and this assignment has made it clear to me that it is very important to leave school with the necessary clinical skills and knowledge, but without learning to communicate with different populations of people. I will not be as successful as an optometrist as I would like..