Needy Patients

I had my first "Patient Interview" today. We were virtually thrown to the wolves. We had a short reading assigned about how to interview a patient, and that was about all we got before the fake patient walked in the door (they're actors). There were eight students and two faculty members to oversee us. Four volunteers got to do the interviewing. I was the second to go. My patient was a 53-year old lady who just lost an uncle to cancer and was propelled to quit smoking herself. I told her, "I'm sorry to hear that," and asked her some questions about him and made remarks along the lines of, "It must have been hard for you." At the end of the interview, her critique was that I wasn't sympathetic about the death of her uncle. I see a long and illustrious career as a caring medical professional ahead of me.